


Everglow

by keydisces



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Basketball, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, AoKise Day, AoKise Week, Best Friends, Comfort, Cute, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Humor, Love, M/M, Necklaces, Other, Protective Generation of Miracles, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates, True Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:54:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28070505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keydisces/pseuds/keydisces
Summary: AU where on everyone’s sixteenth birthday, they receive a necklace that glows when in close proximity to their soulmate. After parting ways in high school, Aomine and Kise face a surprising reality when they reconnect as opponents on the court and their necklaces simultaneously glow together. And now, they must get through the challenges of finding out that their ex-best friend has now become someone who would be part of their lives forever.
Relationships: Aomine Daiki/Kise Ryouta
Comments: 55
Kudos: 62





	1. Prologue

It was inevitable.

“It’s best if we go to different schools,” Akashi said, as the rest of the Generation of Miracles stood together in the school gym after winning their final national championships. It was strange; five strangers who had grown and played and shared together had now become strangers yet again. “It’s stifling being on the same team. May we meet again on the court in the future and finally, see who is the best.”

And with that final statement, the five dispersed, each toward a future that didn’t include the people they had just left behind. After all, Akashi Seijuro’s orders were absolute. But each of them knew, without a doubt, that they could no longer stay together.

But Ryouta Kise felt an unsatisfying stab in his chest as he turned around, an all too familiar feeling that paralleled the exact moment when he knew he had lost Aomine Daiki as his best friend more than a year ago. Because now, it felt like he was losing Aomine all over again - but now for good.

 _I won’t see him anymore_ , Kise realised. No more sneaking glances at Aomine whenever he wasn’t looking, wondering how it all went wrong. No more “accidentally” bumping into him in the corridors or “coincidentally” being at the same places at the same time. No more clinging onto the hope that they could somehow repair their fractured friendship and go back to the way they were.

And so, in a split moment of weakness, Ryouta Kise turned his head back just a fraction, just enough to catch a glimpse of dark navy hair that disappeared into the sunlight outside, as Aomine Daiki walked away from the memories of his time here at Teiko and all the people he had encountered. _Away from him._

“One day, Aominecchi,” Kise murmured to himself, a soft whisper that carried a promise so strong as he swivelled his head back around and increased the distance between them. “One day, we’ll be friends again. I promise, once this is all over, we can go back to who we were. And we’ll be okay again.”


	2. 1 Year Later

**1 Year Later, 18 June 2013 - Kise**

Ryouta Kise was late.

“Damn it,” Kise panted, jogging home at the fastest pace his exhausted legs could handle after a gruelling two hours of non-stop play. His short personal training session at the public basketball court ran longer than he had wanted it to, after meeting a rather enthusiastic teen who wanted the chance to play a one-on-one with _The_ Ryouta Kise. And now, at 4 minutes past midnight, Kise was chiding himself for not remembering to keep track of the time on such an important day.

 _My sixteenth birthday_ , Kise mused with a small smile as he sprinted ahead. _I’ve been looking forward to this day ever since I could remember. I can’t believe my dumb ass forgot to get home before midnight today._

It was a day that a hopeless romantic like Ryouta Kise had dreamed of his entire life. The day that his necklace would be delivered to his doorstep at exactly midnight on his sixteenth birthday - a necklace that would show him who his soulmate was. When in close proximity or contact with each other, both soulmates’ necklaces would emit a glow - stronger when closer together and weaker when further apart - thus saving each individual the pain and heartbreak of being played by those who weren’t meant for them.

And to Kise, it was also something that would finally allow him to escape from the less-than-ideal side effects of his fame. The necklace didn’t just symbolise his connection with his other half; it represented a reality that there was someone out there who loved him not just for his looks or talents, but _him_. A real person who had strengths and flaws and a personality that went beyond his pretty face, and who was exhausted from being used by everyone.

 _Well, not everyone_ , Kise thought, albeit a bit sadly. The Generation of Miracles had respected his talent and certainly didn’t give a shit about his facial features, but at one point in time, the six really were friends who had genuinely enjoyed each other’s presence.

_But maybe sometimes things just aren’t meant to work out._

The vision of his house coming into view in front of him snapped Kise out of his thoughts, and he breathed a sigh of relief, his muscles screaming as he continued to race down the street under the bright lights of the street lamps and the moon. The anticipation of finally receiving his necklace motivated him to push through those last 40 metres, and he nearly collapsed when he finally reached his gate, panting heavily as he unlatched it and let himself inside.

He didn’t know why he was so excited to open that box and put on that necklace immediately. After all, it wasn’t as if it would suddenly glow the moment he hung it around his neck, and it could be days, months, or even years before he finally met his soulmate.

But Kise was a dreamer and a believer. And as he picked up the smooth, dainty pendant from the box and fixed the clasp behind his neck, he was as full of hope as he was since the day he was born. He knew that one day, all of this pain and anticipation and waiting would finally be worth it.

-

**1 Year Later, 31 August 2013 - Aomine**

“What the hell, Dai-chan!”

Aomine let out a sigh as Satsuki’s accusatory tone pierced his eardrums and he felt her presence loom over him as he lay down on the roof of their high school. He carefully opened one eye, confirming his suspicions as he saw his childhood friend’s face peering at him from directly above.

“What do you want, Satsuki?” Aomine grumbled, not at all fazed by her sudden intrusion, but nonetheless still annoyed. “Move, you’re blocking my sunlight.”

One thing that Satsuki never understood was why, contrary to everyone else, Aomine actually liked having the harsh sunlight beat down on him when he took his daily naps on the roof. He would never admit it out loud, though, but the warm sunshine reminded him of someone who brought the same warmth to his life two years ago, who was now missing from it at the very moment. And something else that Aomine would never admit out loud either - he actually considered Ryouta Kise his best friend back then, and he actually enjoyed the stupid idiot’s company. But now, things had changed, and Aomine had accepted his loneliness a long time ago.

Well, save for Satsuki, who for some reason followed him to high school and made it her life’s mission to bother him every chance she got.

“You’re not wearing your necklace!” She accused, pointing a finger at his bare neck. “It’s your birthday today, didn’t you get it last night?”

Aomine sighed, closing his eyes and lazily adjusting himself into a more comfortable position. “None of your business, Satsuki. But if you must know, that thing’s stupid and an absolute waste of time. There’s no such thing as soulmates. You should know.”

At his last comment, Satsuki felt her cheeks flame. It was a humiliation she still hadn’t gotten over since a few months ago, when she threw herself at Kuroko the day she received her necklace and realised that both of their necklaces had remained as plain and cold as before.

“That-I-don’t change the subject!” She exclaimed, stuttering as she became more flustered by the second. All those years of pining after the blue-haired boy of her dreams, wasted, had broken her heart into a million pieces then. So now she put all of her energy into pestering Aomine about his attitude and love life - which definitely annoyed the life out of him even more - but of course he endured it for her sake.

“Satsuki, the only one who can beat me is me. So by extension, the only one who can love me is me. There’s no girl out there who’s my soulmate, because no one can love me,” he drawled. “This whole thing is just trash. I’d rather just get with as many girls as possible before I die. With big breasts, of course. Doesn’t that sound so much better than being stuck with someone who probably doesn’t even like you that much?”

But then, even as Aomine said those words out loud, a part of him still didn’t fully believe it. The necklace in question was tucked safely inside his pocket, a physical extension of the nagging feeling in his mind that maybe, just maybe, there was someone out there for him. Someone who saw past his bullshit superiority complex and lazy persona and recognised the sadness and raw vulnerability inside of him. Someone who could draw out the happiness he hadn’t felt since the beginning of middle school, when basketball was still something he could enjoy with the people around him.

But that person had to have big breasts of course. I mean, his soulmate had to have big breasts.

His floating thoughts were interrupted by Satsuki’s loud sigh as she placed her hands on her hips. “Dai-chan, you’re so pathetic. You’ve changed so much. You used to believe in the good of the world.”

“Well, Satsuki, the world is disappointing. We don’t always get what we want. Just like how the universe is depriving me of someone worthy of competing with, I’m sure it’s going to deprive me of a soulmate, if she even exists.”

“You don’t know that, Dai-chan. I really think that this could be a chance for you to finally be happy!”

“I don’t need to be happy,” Aomine snorted, the idea seemingly ridiculous to him. The last two years had brought out his most pessimistic side, something that didn't seem to be going away or changing any time soon. “Either way, the only way I’d be happy is when I finally find someone to play against. Not some dumb soulmate bullshit. Give it up, Satsuki. It’s not real.”

The finality in his words robbed Satsuki of a response. Sensing his dismissal of her, she finally decided to leave the stubborn boy alone. She gave him a loud “hmph”, irritated as she kicked at his body, before descending the ladder that led to the main building of the school.

“By the way, happy birthday, you loser!” Satsuki yelled as she climbed down. “And stop skipping practice!”

She only heard his gruff laugh in response as she stepped further away from him, knowing that whatever she said, including their earlier conversation, had fallen on deaf ears.

 _But you’re wrong, Dai-chan_ , she thought. _This is real, and I’m sure you know it. You’re just deflecting your feelings and insecurities by making fun of it. Until you realise that, I’ll always be here for you. But I promise, one day, you’ll find that soulmate. And I hope that when that happens, you’ll believe in this world and yourself again._


	3. New Beginnings

**Present, October - Kise**

“Hell yeah!” Kise grinned as he slammed the ball into the opposing team’s hoop, copying Kasamatsu’s earlier dunk just before coach blew his whistle to signify the end of the small game and practice. He felt his necklace bounce against his chest, the small weight already a familiar and comforting presence that he refused to let go of.

“Ryouta, you know that you can take off your necklace during practice, right?” Kasamatsu questioned, his disbelief stemming from all the previous practices since Kise received his necklace where, unlike everyone else, he refused to take it off.

Kise looked at his senior and smiled. “Of course I know, senpai,” he replied airily. “But I just love it so much! You never know when it could glow! Who knows, maybe someone on the team is my soulmate.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, laughing when Kasamatsu flushed slightly in embarrassment and gave him a hard smack to his head, telling him to knock it off.

However, a small part of Kise actually wondered if it was possible that someone on the team _was_ his soulmate. And by someone, he meant Yukio Kasamatsu.

It wasn’t as if he had actual feelings for him - at least he didn’t think so. After some consideration, he found that his feelings towards his senpai leaned more towards admiration rather than romantic affection. But their interactions were always so charged with passion and a certain intimate fondness that sometimes Kise wondered what could happen if they just gave it a shot and actually let their relationship develop.

It was a special dynamic that hadn’t escaped the others either. Ever since their first meeting when the captain beat the crap out of the bratty Kise, the two had developed an unlikely friendship - with their original light-hearted banter and physical altercations leading to a deeper emotional connection and fondness between the two that flirted with the possibility of romance. Kise would be lying if he said that he hadn’t thought about it a lot, or wished that his soulmate was indeed Yukio Kasamatsu. After all, who wouldn’t want such a strong and handsome guy as their soulmate? To him, his senpai was one of the best people he had ever met, and was honestly one of the few people who he could actually be himself around.

Plus, it wasn’t as if he was having much luck with finding his soulmate at the moment either.

However, Kise was always left wondering because conveniently, all of his team members took off their necklaces during practice and only wore them again afterwards just before they left for home.

But now, with Kasamatsu reminding him of the necklace at the end of practice, Kise decided that enough was enough, and he had to settle his curiosity once and for all. And that was how he found himself waiting impatiently for Kasamatsu and the rest of his teammates to head into the showers first, before sneaking over to his senpai’s duffel bag that was left on the shared bench in the middle of the locker room.

Kise listened carefully to the sounds of his team’s faraway yelling and chatter as he knelt down and concentrated on finding Kasamatsu’s necklace, digging through the various compartments and pockets as he felt around for the familiar shape of the pendant. It was only after two minutes of rigorous searching that he finally located the necklace at the bottom of Kasamatsu’s bag, his fingers clasping around the smooth chain before pulling it out into the light.

He let himself feel a sense of triumph for a second before remembering his main goal, and he dangled the necklace right next to his own and held his breath as he waited for a glow, a sign, anything.

But there was nothing.

-

**Present, October - Aomine**

It was no use.

For some reason, Aomine Daiki couldn’t get Satsuki’s words out of his head.

_I really think that this could be a chance for you to finally be happy!_

Aomine gave a heavy sigh. He knew that he could never be happy. Could he? He didn’t even remember what that felt like. The last time he had felt even a shred of happiness was years ago, back before he had improved far beyond his peers, and back before the Generation of Miracles had each developed their own selfish tendencies and dissolved each other from their lives.

All his brain could comprehend now was the same mindless routine everyday - eat, sleep, lazy shots at the hoop, do the bare minimum schoolwork, repeat. Everything was a blur, and he just felt _numb_. There was no excitement, no fire. When was the last time he had felt any passion?

With that thought, his mind was suddenly transported back to two years ago, to a memory at Teiko’s school gym one cold July evening.

_“Just one more, Aominecchi!” Kise begged, running around to block Aomine from going home just like he’d done the past twelve times._

_Aomine sighed, closing his eyes briefly as if seeing Kise himself was already giving him another migraine. “You’re never going to stop calling me that, are you? And quit it, you’re literally never going to beat me. At this rate, even Kuroko will end up beating me in a one-on-one before you do.”_

_“You’re so mean, Aominecchi!” Kise wailed in his usual bratty fashion, crossing his arms in a failed attempt to look angry. “Not that Kurokocchi isn’t amazing. But just one more, I promise! I’m really getting better!” He continuously tugged at Aomine’s shirt, looking him directly in the eyes while attempting his best puppy-eyed look._

_Not that it worked, anyway. Aomine was absolutely immune to the model’s various expressions and tantrums, which was probably why he was the only one besides Kuroko who was able to spend more than ten minutes alone with him. But Aomine wasn’t totally stupid. He’d seen how fast Kise grew as a player and how he’d been increasingly perfecting his copying style. And maybe, just maybe, this particular one-on-one would finally be the one where he could truly be challenged by his peer._

_And so Aomine just flashed a subtle smile before dribbling the ball across Kise, earning a surprised_ “Aominecchi!” _from the blonde before he started sprinting to catch up with his opponent again._

Now that, Aomine realised, was probably the last time he had felt any passion in his life. All those one-on-one sessions with Kise were occurrences that Aomine actually looked forward to, when Kise’s growing talent spurred him to continue honing his own abilities for fear of being taken over. The blonde’s challenges never failed to ignite that competitive spark in him, even as he slowly realised that Kise would never beat him in a one-on-one play. But alas, that arrangement could never last, and that was ultimately the downfall of their friendship and their team. It just became boring.

 _So what now?_ Aomine contemplated. Now that he knew that basketball could never be something that made him happy again, what would? Could Satsuki actually be right for once - could a soulmate really exist and bring him the happiness that has eluded him for years? It was hard for him to believe that something as simple as someone else’s presence, a girl’s no less, could be the key to his contentment. When had he ever depended so much on someone else for his happiness?

Tentatively, Aomine carefully reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace, holding the dainty pendant up to the sunlight in front of his face as he rested on the school’s roof. The small charm glinted brightly, as if tempting him to just give it a chance.

He let out a soft sigh. Maybe Satsuki was finally getting to him. Maybe the physical weight of the necklace was starting to pressure him too. Or maybe, just maybe, he was tired of continuously trying to find a way to be happy and always failing.

_Well, it didn’t hurt to try, right?_

And so Aomine grasped the necklace in his fingers and clasped it around his neck, unbeknownst to him that this small action would change his life forever.


	4. Preparation... But Are They Really Prepared?

**Present, September**

Kise wasn’t really sure what to do now.

He exhaled after having held his breath in anticipation, but he could feel the crushing weight of disappointment hit him as he continued to stare at the two lifeless necklaces.

So he guessed Yukio Kasamatsu wasn’t his soulmate after all.

Why was he so disappointed then? He already knew that there was a chance that he and his senpai weren’t going to be romantically linked. But maybe his hope had led him to believe that those two years of Kasamatsu waiting to find his soulmate were actually him waiting for Kise.

The sounds of his teammates shouts getting increasingly louder snapped him out of his thoughts and he felt a slight wave of panic as he haphazardly stuffed Kasamatsu’s necklace back into the bottom of his duffle bag. Bolting towards the other side of the locker room, he opened his locker to feign being busy just as his teammates all entered the locker room post-shower, laughing rambunctiously and dispersing to their respective lockers or duffle bags to change.

Kasamatsu glanced at Kise, surprised to see him still donning his training attire. Was Kise really such a slowpoke? Damn it, he didn’t want to stay extra late waiting for this turtle to finish showering so he could lock up afterwards.

“Oi, Ryouta. You’re not showering?” he asked, towelling off his damp hair.

Kise tensed slightly, slowly turning around to face his senpai. He felt a slight wave of embarrassment as he made eye contact with the captain after literally just snooping through his bag, and he found himself stuttering as he struggled to come up with a believable lie to disguise his earlier crime.

“Um-er-no, senpai!” Kise stammered, blushing slightly. Luckily, Kasamatsu attributed his flushed cheeks to the steam and humidity from the nearby showers. “I’m, uh, going to…… walk my dog later! Yeah! No use showering twice, right?” He ended with a small chuckle in an attempt to sound slightly more natural, but his senpai simply raised his eyebrows in question.

“You don’t have a dog, Ryouta.”

Kise’s eyes widened when he realised the flaw in his answer. _Stupid baka!_ He chided himself. _Was that seriously the best you could come up with on the spot?_

“Well, um.” Kise furiously tried to come up with a follow-up lie _._ “My mistake! I meant… I’m going to help walk Kurokocchi’s dog later! Number Two! He’s such a cutie and he totally loves me, because I mean who doesn’t?” Kise grinned widely. _Totally saved that._

Kasamatsu eyed him warily but was too tired to care. “I still have no idea why on earth they named him ‘Number Two’. That’s the weirdest dog name I’ve ever heard,” He muttered, although upon meeting the Generation of Miracles he had quickly realised that they were a rather…… funky bunch. “Well, send me some pictures of him when you walk him, yeah?”

Kise only nodded before he grabbed his bag and hightailed it out of there, his guilt and embarrassment creeping up on him as he walked away. He breathed a sigh of relief when he was finally at a safe distance from his school, before unlocking his phone and typing out a quick message to Kuroko.

**_Kise: Kurokocchi! Bring Number Two to the park and let’s walk him together!_ ** ****

**_Kuroko: You’ve literally never asked to do this before. What do you want?_ ** ****

**_Kise: So mean, Kurokocchi! Can’t I just want to see my bestie and his cutiepatootie dog?_ ** ****

**_Kuroko: No._ ** ****

**_Kise: Fine… I lied about having to walk Number Two after practice today and senpai asked for some photos of him so now I actually need to walk him. Can you please meet me?_ ** ****

**_Kuroko: Okay. We’ll be there in ten minutes._ **

Kise smiled down at his phone. He was glad that despite the drama that had unfolded during their last year of middle school, Kuroko was still someone who he could wholeheartedly trust and depend on. Kise had always held a soft spot for the reserved boy, and since their reunion at the Seirin-Kaijo practice match a few months ago, he found himself keeping in touch with and confiding in him often.

He only waited for about five minutes in the quiet park before he heard the sound of barking and felt a furry shape tackle him in the stomach, the street lamps illuminating the tiny Seirin jersey that it wore on its back proudly.

“Number Two!” Kise laughed as he picked up the tiny husky who immediately started licking at his face furiously. “Stop it, it tickles! Where’s your owner, hm?”

“I’m right here.”

Kise felt himself jump at the quiet voice before he realised that it belonged to his friend, who had been standing right beside him the entire time. Kuroko flashed him a small, polite smile before he reached out to grab Number Two and set him down on the ground.

“Kurokocchi!” Kise exclaimed, slinging one arm around his smaller counterpart and affectionately rubbing the top of his head with the other. “Thank you so much! You’re a lifesaver!”

“Of course. Number Two has been whining to go out for a walk, anyway."

"Well, I'm still grateful, Kurokocchi. And I'm really sorry about the Inter-High. I hope your team is doing okay. Aominecchi's team was just too strong, huh?"

"Yeah." Kuroko looked away for a moment but simply shrugged. "It's alright, though. We're working hard to make a comeback at the Winter Cup. But that's not important now. I'm still wondering just exactly why you're here."

And so Kise launched into a detailed recount of his recent venture, flailing his arms dramatically to emphasise certain points and almost knocking Kuroko off the sidewalk multiple times as they strolled side by side around the park. Number Two bounded ahead, sniffing curiously at different plants and scratching at various trees but never going out of the pair’s sight.

“So you’re disappointed that Kasamatsu-san isn’t your soulmate?” Kuroko asked, looking up at his friend and noting the slightly sad expression on his face.

“In a way,” Kise replied, kicking at the dirt with his shoe as he slowly walked along the trail. “I don’t know, it’s weird. Maybe I had a tiny crush on him and I didn’t even notice. But he’s just perfect in a lot of ways, and I guess I got excited at the idea that he could be my soulmate. It’s not like I’ve ever experienced having an actual crush before either, so I’m not really sure how these feelings work. God, why does it have to be so complicated? I thought that having these necklaces meant that we wouldn’t have to deal with these confusing feelings. How did you figure out that Kagamicchi was your soulmate?”

Kuroko stayed silent for a few moments as he contemplated Kise’s question. “Well, for one, our necklaces glowed when we were together.”

“That’s not what I meant, Kurokocchi!” Kise mock-glared at him, crossing his arms and pouting at him.

Kuroko smiled before properly answering his friend’s question. “Well…… I guess we just sort of get each other and fit, you know? His hotheadedness balances out my quietness, and we’re always on the same page as each other. We just understand each other in a way that’s different than with anyone else. But I guess I just always sort of… knew. You just get that gut feeling, you know? But it was especially obvious when I realised that my dynamic with him resembled my dynamic with Aomine exactly, except that this time I felt _more_.”

Kise mulled over Kuroko’s words silently, lost in thought as they absentmindedly watched Number Two chase a squirrel up ahead.

“But what you’re describing kind of sounds like me and senpai, though,” Kise confessed. “I mean, he’s special - different from all the people I’ve met in Kaijo. And we really get each other, had heart to hearts, and he always helps me. He doesn’t pretend to like me like other people, he really sees me for me.”

“Kise, no offence, but that’s kind of the bare minimum for anyone to be in your life,” Kuroko deadpanned. “Everyone who’s your real friend should be seeing you for you. That shouldn’t be something special.”

Kuroko’s words hit Kise hard. The notion hadn’t even crossed his mind once. And in that moment, he realised that his friend was right. Has he really been shortchanging himself all this time? More importantly, has he really been that oblivious and naive when it came to his relationships?

At Kise’s silence, Kuroko continued. “Kise, we’re literally having a heart to heart right now. We’ve always helped each other, and we see each other for exactly the people we are. By your definition, I would be your soulmate. But no, we’re just really good friends.”

Glancing up at Kise again, he softened his tone when he saw the conflicted expression that had overtaken his friend’s face. “I’m sorry if that was harsh, Kise. But to me, it seems like you’re just limiting yourself to the people around you now. Maybe you should try to be a bit more open-minded, explore your options, take your time. I was lucky that my soulmate just happened to be right next to me all this while. But some people take a while to find theirs.”

Kuroko was worried that he had upset his friend when he noticed that the bubbly blonde had been unusually quiet for a while. But those worries disappeared when he felt Kise relax next to him and he saw the blonde flash him his signature pearly smile.

“I think you’re right, Kurokocchi,” he said. “I’m still sixteen, and at least now I won’t have to waste any time on senpai. There’s so much to see, so many new people to meet!”

Kuroko smiled at how his friend genuinely listened to his advice and how instantly he perked up. Even though Kise acted like a child most of the time, he was someone with a pure, hopeful heart that Kuroko hoped would never be tainted by the world.

“Don’t worry, Kise,” Kuroko said. “Sometimes things unfold in the most unexpected way. I’ve thought about my soulmate a few times over the years, and I never would’ve imagined that he would be a headstrong basketball-loving idiot who challenges every living thing that breathes. Yet, he’s somehow everything I could’ve asked for. Some things happen so unexpectedly, but end up being exactly what you need.”

Kise smiled at how fondly Kuroko talked of Kagami. Someday, he was going to have that with his special someone.

“And maybe think of it this way,” Kuroko added. “If you think that Kasamatsu-san is so amazing now, think about how much better your soulmate will be once you actually meet them. I’m sure that your soulmate will be just as kind and patient and sincere as you always imagined.”

-

“You talentless fools,” Aomine Daiki drawled mockingly, grinning viciously at his high school teammates as they panted before him. It was two weeks before the finals of the Inter-High against Kaijo High, and Aomine had surprisingly dropped in for one short impromptu game against his teammates.

But it quickly became clear that Aomine had no intention of attempting to work with his teammates just before the Inter-High finals; rather it seemed that he had only come to ridicule and taunt his teammates’ less impressive skills once more.

“Respect your senpais, you brat!” Wakamatsu yelled, pointing an accusing finger at his kouhai who simply laughed in his face.

“Respect you?” Aomine scoffed. “I’ll respect you once any of you actually manage to beat me in a game. But I see that’s clearly not the case - you’re all still the same unworthy players as before.”

Aomine let go of the basketball in his hands, each hit of the ball against the floor a resounding echo that seemingly conveyed Aomine’s heavy disappointment in his teammates’ performance. He strolled towards the stage, lazily picking up Sakurai’s water bottle and squirting the liquid into his mouth without a care in the world.

Wakamatsu turned to their captain and gestured wildly towards Aomine with wide eyes of disbelief, as if begging him to do something about their kouhai’s atrocious attitude. But captain Shoichi Imayoshi merely stayed silent as he watched Aomine do whatever he pleased. And as usual, the rest of his teammates didn’t dare to speak up against the ace, and only watched helplessly as Sakurai apologised profusely to Aomine for only filling the bottle with room temperature water and not ice water.

After Aomine was finished, he dropped the bottle, dragged a hand across his mouth and sauntered towards the doors, refusing to look back as he left with a mocking “Tell me when I actually have a worthy opponent” before walking into the sunlight outside. The rest of the team remained quiet for a few moments before Wakamatsu angrily exploded again.

“Captain, what was that? He can’t just keep getting away with this! Why won’t you let us teach him a lesson? He’ll never learn how-”

Imayoshi silenced him with a raise of his hand. “I appreciate your anger, Wakamatsu. But unfortunately, it’s best if we leave him be. As long as he does his part on the court, he can do whatever he wants outside of it.”

Wakamatsu was about to open his mouth to protest again but was suppressed by the sharp look Imayoshi sent his way. He gave a fierce huff in response before crossly retrieving a ball and shooting some hoops to calm down.

Imayoshi turned to the rest of his team, giving an eerie smile as he clapped his hands. "Alright, let's get back to practice, shall we?"

And so after a few minutes the team practice slowly turned back to normal, Aomine’s earlier display forgotten as they prepared themselves to face the powerhouse team.

And as team practice droned on, Aomine was busy walking across the school to go to his favourite rooftop, where he laid in the same position as always and stared up at the untouchable sky once more. Ever since he found out that their next opponent would be Kaijo High, his mind had suddenly become clouded with thoughts - more specifically thoughts about his ex-best friend. But he forced himself to shake away the fond memories of Ryouta Kise and get his mind back on track, because Aomine Daiki was _not_ going to lose to anyone, especially not one of the Generation of Miracles.

 _Two weeks_ , he thought, closing his eyes. _Two weeks until I play against you, Kise. I hope you're prepared. Because I don't care, ex-best friend or not - I'm going to absolutely destroy you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a bit of a filler chapter... but ending with some irony because aomine's telling him to be prepared when he's totally unprepared for what's going to happen:") in case any of you are confused this chapter happens during the inter-high but just before the too-kaijo match (aka the match where they finally meet which is placed around september! i think in the manga and anime the inter-high finals are around late august but since aomine's birthday is the end of august and he needed to receive his necklace first, i just pushed the finals back a bit)! also some wholesome kuroko/kise friendship for yall<3


	5. What's The Game?

Despite losing to Aomine’s team in the earlier rounds, the Seirin High basketball team was still eager to watch the Inter-High match between Kaijo and Too.

Most especially Kuroko and Kagami, who had been keeping close tabs on all of Kuroko’s ex-teammates in their undertaking to defeat them. The two had grown much closer together since their first meeting, and even more so now that they knew that they were soulmates.

Not that everyone didn’t see it coming though. Kagami’s genuine shock when their necklaces simultaneously glowed during practice had caused the Seirin team to laugh hysterically at his obliviousness until their stomachs hurt, before they were promptly punished with five rounds around the track by Riko. But after the initial surprise wore off, the two became even more inseparable than they were before, which improved their performance together immensely.

Their first month of dating had been nothing short of amusing yet charming, and it was very apparent in how the two held each other’s hands in a soft grip as they headed towards the Kaijo locker room to wish Kise luck. Kagami gave Kuroko’s smaller hand a gentle squeeze as they walked down the corridors, their necklaces proudly hung around their necks as they emitted a concurrent glow.

“Are you nervous about who’s going to win?” Kagami asked, genuinely curious about Kuroko’s assessment of his ex-teammates.

Kuroko paused for a moment. “If you want my honest opinion, I think that there’s a higher chance that Aomine’s going to win this game,” he confessed. “He’s just all around a stronger player, not to mention the rest of his teammates. Even though I’m sure that the gap between the scores would be a lot smaller than our game with Too, I don’t think Kise’s really developed to his full potential yet.”

“That’s honestly kind of scary, if you think about it. I can’t imagine an even more overpowered Kise on the court.”

Kuroko gave a small smile. “I think you’d be surprised by the full potential of all of the Generation of Miracles. But to be honest it doesn’t really matter that much, considering how they’d have to face Akashi and Rakuzan in the finals anyway. And we all know how that’s going to turn out.”

“You still haven’t told me much about Akashi-“ Kagami started, but was interrupted when they finally reached the Kaijo locker room and Kise spotted them through the open doorway.

“Kagamicchi! Oh, and Kurokocchi, I just saw you! Thank you for coming!” Kise sang, abandoning his stretches to greet the pair. “My favouritest cutest couple!”

“That’s not even a word!” Kagami whispered to Kuroko in bewilderment. “And why does he keep calling me Kagamicchi?”

“Just go with it,” Kuroko whispered back before he was promptly crushed into a hug by Kise. The blonde held out a fist to Kagami who bumped it with his own and they grinned at each other.

“You excited for the game?” Kagami asked Kise, who had let go of Kuroko and was now stretching out his arm muscles as he faced them.

“Excited as I am nervous,” Kise replied. “Maybe a little scared to see Aominecchi. I haven’t seen him in months, and it didn’t exactly end well between us.” He frowned. “But I want to beat him so badly it hurts, and I don’t want to disappoint my senpais.”

“Don’t worry, Kise,” Kuroko said quietly but assuredly. “I’m sure that you’ll do the best that you can.”

Kagami nodded in agreement, and Kise flashed a warm smile at his friends’ support. He was about to speak again before he was interrupted by Kasamatsu yelling at him to join the team huddle, and Kise gave the couple an apologetic look.

“I guess I have to go,” Kise sighed, before giving a small “oh!” as he glanced down and tucked his necklace back inside his jersey. “Gotta be careful with that, wouldn’t want anything to happen to it during the game,” he laughed as explanation.

Kuroko and Kagami wished him and his teammates luck one final time before returning back to their seats in the stands, and Kise mentally got his head in the game.

Meanwhile, the entire Too team looked up in disbelief as Aomine Daiki walked into their assigned locker room before the match, their eyes wide with surprise.

“Y-You… you’re actually on time!” Wakamatsu stuttered in accusation, pointing a finger at the ace who glowered in response.

“And what about it?” he shot back crossly, throwing his duffel bag onto the ground without a care. He shrugged off his jacket and haphazardly tossed it on top of his bag, before walking back out the door.

“Don’t bother looking for me. I’ll be there when it’s time,” he droned in his usual fashion, and before any of his teammates could say a word, he was already gone.

Captain Imayoshi turned towards Satsuki, who also seemed genuinely shocked at Aomine’s early appearance. “Did you get him to come on time?”

Satsuki shook her head. “Not at all, we haven’t spoken in a while actually. I had no idea that he would be here this early. I’m as surprised as you are.”

“Interesting. I wonder why the sudden change of attitude in our beloved ace.”

And at those words, Satsuki was suddenly hit with realisation.

“Actually, I think I may know why.” She hesitated. “I’m sure you know that Kaijo High has one of the Generation of Miracles as well - Ryouta Kise. He and Aomine used to be best friends and rivals. I’m assuming that Aomine’s actually going to take this game seriously because he wants to beat him again.”

Imayoshi raised an eyebrow. “I see,” he said. “I guess this is going to be one interesting match.”

And it was no more than ten minutes later before both teams were gathered at their respective sides of the court, faces stoic with concentration as they listened to their coaches’ last words. Of course except for Aomine, who simply relaxed on the bench with his eyes lazily roaming around the domed arena, necklace tucked safely inside his jersey and hidden from sight to avoid any teasing.

In the distance, he spotted Kagami’s dark red hair among the crowd before his eyes landed on the ice blue figure next to him. But before he could continue to stare, a flash of gold from the corner of his eye momentarily stunned him.

Aomine didn’t know why his breath hitched, or why it suddenly seemed like everything else around him faded. It had been months since he’d seen him, sure, but Aomine had been fairly certain that it wouldn’t have bothered him to see his ex-best friend again. But clearly he was wrong.

Maybe seeing Kise again affected him more than he thought.

But his pride forced him to keep his head facing the court, despite everything in him screaming to give in to the temptation and just take a look. Instead he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, levelling his mindset into one solely focused on beating Kise.

But moments later, the loud shrill sound of a whistle blowing cut into his thoughts, and Aomine began to make his way to the middle of the court.

And it was when he finally stood there that he at last managed to come face to face with Ryouta Kise.

 _His hair’s longer_ , Aomine noticed. _And he seems a bit taller too_.

But what Aomine didn’t notice was the way his chest hitched slightly, or how the chatter around him seemed to have ceased, because at that moment Ryouta Kise’s golden eyes finally locked onto his sapphire ones, and both couldn’t seem to stop staring at each other until Kise broke the silence.

“Aominecchi,” he murmured. “It’s good to see you again.”

Aomine scowled. “Don’t call me that.”

“Why not? You used to let me all the time.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, you _baka_ , things aren’t exactly the same anymore.”

“And whose fault is that?” Kise shot back, suddenly feeling a bit of resent towards the navy-haired boy standing in front of him for when he’d turned his back on Kise and their team.

Aomine narrowed his eyes. “I’m not doing this,” he snapped. “ I see you’re still the same stupid brat you were back in middle school. You haven’t changed at all, and now I’m going to destroy you, like always.”

“Try us,” Kise growled back, and with that the two powerful aces turned on their backs and stormed away from each other, fists and teeth clenched.

The minutes following were a flurry of attacks on both sides, the points climbing as each team refused to let up in the first and second quarters. Each layup, double clutch and dunk made by Aomine was successfully copied by Kise a few moments later, and the rest of Kaijo seemed to be keeping up with the rest of Too, but barely.

With the score at 49-40 in favour of Too by the end of the second quarter, the stakes were getting higher, and both teams were starting to feel the heat.

And to add on, there was an even more intense feeling of suspense between Kise and Aomine, the tension palpable as both sweat-covered athletes examined each other carefully through narrowed eyes. Every move was calculated and fast, to the point where everyone else couldn’t keep up - and it was as if the two had created their own little bubble, lost in each other’s actions.

Kise could feel the pressure of the nine point difference weighing down on him, constricting his breathing and clouding his mind with worry-filled thoughts. But he forced himself to push them down - for the sake of this team that he’d come to love and for himself - as he and Aomine faced each in the middle of the court.

And somehow, Aomine couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from the monster in front of him either. Kise’s growth shocked him to say the least, though he’d never admit it. But mostly, what caught his attention was the fire in Kise’s eyes, the pure _drive_ that made his golden eyes burn even brighter than before.

To say that the two were completely absorbed in each other was an understatement. But suddenly the air of intensity between them was punctured by a gasp - which ordinarily wouldn’t have broken the concentration that they shared - but suddenly it was followed by even more gasps from all around the stands that reverberated around the entire arena. And that was when Kise saw it.

The soulmate necklace hanging off of Aomine Daiki’s neck, which must’ve slipped out of his jersey in the middle of their vigorous match.

But it wasn’t just the necklace that caught everyone’s eye. No - it was the distinctive, unmistakable glow that it was currently producing that seized the attention of everyone. A bright glow that could only be emitted in the presence of his soulmate.

And for a moment, Ryouta Kise was stunned. Because for one, he hadn’t expected Aomine Daiki to even open the package containing his necklace, much less wear it. And furthermore, he and Aomine were the only two people who were even close to each other, with their teammates spread far away from their fierce battle zone.

 _Who could it be then?_ Kise wondered, mind racing. _Satsuki by the bench, maybe? I’ve never really sensed a romantic connection between them, but they’ve known each other for God knows how long. Maybe some other fangirl hiding nearby? Or maybe-_

And it was at that very second that Ryouta Kise froze. Because, no, it _couldn’t_ be and _no_ , he couldn’t bring his horrified self to find out if his growing suspicions were actually true.

But as if it had a mind of its own, his head slowly craned downwards to look at the centre of his chest, where his necklace had also fallen out - and glowed with the same indisputable glow identical to Aomine’s.

And suddenly nothing else mattered anymore. Not the increasingly resounding murmurs of the crowd, not the shocked faces of his teammates, not the game he’d deemed the most important of the entire competition.

Instead Kise could only focus on the brilliant glow of his necklace, and on the blood rushing through his ears and the pounding within his head and the thoughts swirling in his mind screaming _no, no, this wasn’t possible, it couldn’t be, this wasn’t happening._

But then his glow started to fade, first slowly and then increasingly quicker until it was completely gone - and it was only then that he realised that Aomine Daiki had stormed off the court, out through the doors, and out of his sight.

-

_How?_

That was the only question that kept repeating itself in Aomine Daiki’s mind as he stormed away as quickly as possible from the arena. For someone who always had a smart and quick-witted answer to everything, Aomine suddenly found himself at a loss.

And he hated it.

But mostly, the navy-haired boy felt confused, so confused, and maybe a little angry at the blonde devil. Because how dare that bratty Ryouta Kise be his soulmate.

Ryouta Kise - _his soulmate_.

That simple truth was enough to knock the wind out of his lungs and halt all other functions of his body, and he held onto a nearby lamppost as he gasped for air and tried to calm the spiralling thoughts in his mind.

God, his _soulmate_.

How on earth was Ryouta Kise his soulmate, of all people? They hadn’t talked in more than a year, and the two had absolutely nothing in common. He couldn’t even remember the last time they had a normal conversation, one that wasn’t fused with indirect jabs and insults or underlined with unconcealed hostility.

And more importantly, Aomine _hated_ him. He couldn’t stand his ex-best friend. There was a reason there was “ex” in that title. And oh God, he was a _boy_. Aomine didn’t even know if he swung that way. How the hell did his soulmate not have big breasts?

Without any coherent thoughts in his mind, Aomine’s muscle memory took over and he soon found himself back at his empty apartment, gifted to him by his parents who were probably in some random exotic country and who sent him postcards twice a month from wherever they were in the world.

Not that Aomine had complained at the time, and now he was even more grateful for the solitude when he finally shut the door and collapsed against it in exhaustion, trying in vain to sort out his emotions and straighten his head.

He didn’t wait long before he heard Satsuki’s panicked voice outside his door, begging to be let in to make sure that he was okay. But he simply remained silent and waited until he heard her defeated sigh and retreating footsteps, and he let out a breath that he didn’t know he’d been holding.

But his relief didn’t last long - because only a mere ten minutes after Satsuki’s departure, a voice he thought he’d never hear anytime soon pierced through his door and his heart.

“Aominecchi,” Kise called out hesitantly. “Are you here?”

Aomine continued to remain silent, hoping against hope that Kise would give up after a few tries and eventually leave him alone. But he knew how stubborn the other could be.

Honestly, Kise didn’t even know why he was here. He didn’t even have time to process the recent revelation, and yet he found himself running towards Aomine’s apartment, the route as familiar to him as it was more than a year ago.

He didn’t even know what to say to him. After all, what _did_ you say to your ex-best friend who suddenly became your soulmate?

But he knew that they both needed to talk, because there were just too many things that were left unresolved that made this situation much more complicated than usual. And if the way Aomine ran away just now was any indication, both of them were just as confused and afraid of this new unknown.

Kise banged on the door, yelling again, “Aominecchi! Please open the door! It’s me, Kise!”

But there was still dead silence, Aomine even holding his breath to try and convince the other that no one was home.

But Kise was not so easily fooled. “Come on, Aominecchi! I know you’re home, I can see your shoes outside!”

Aomine soundlessly cursed himself for that small detail, and also made a mental note to never do that again when running away from someone.

“Please! We have to talk!” Kise begged. “Please, Aomine! I’m not leaving until we do!”

And suddenly Aomine paused. Not because Kise threatened to camp outside his door all night, potentially freezing to death and effectively preventing him from going outside without getting caught. And not because he was 100% sure that the blonde was probably going to annoy him to death until he eventually conceded. But because for the first time in forever, Ryouta Kise had called him _Aomine_.

And that meant that he was desperate.

Kise gulped when he heard the soft click of a lock turning as Aomine slowly unlocked the front door, and there was a weak beam of light as the door opened a crack. One blue eye peered at him from inside, and Kise gave an awkward smile, hands stuffed into the pockets of his sports jacket that he haphazardly threw on in his attempt to get here as quickly as possible.

“Hi, Aominecchi.”

“Ryouta.”

Hesitantly, Aomine opened the door a bit more, a silent invitation for Kise to come in. The blonde kicked his shoes off before entering the home and immediately took a seat in the middle of the couch, the same spot that he’d frequented back when he played video games or watched movies with Aomine.

Kise watched as Aomine closed the door behind him, and he felt his breath catch when he finally turned around and sat in the seat next to him.

He noted the sweatshirt that was carelessly thrown over his basketball jersey and the duffel bag strewn across the hall, and the messy tufts of dark hair that indicated the multiple times Aomine had run his hands through them roughly. But Kise didn’t comment on them, not when he too had felt the same uneasiness and desperation as him.

For a while, the two sat in silence, unsure of how to begin or how to properly address the situation. The concurrent glow of their necklaces seemed to taunt them, and feeling incredibly unnerved, Aomine unclasped his and stuffed it underneath a cushion.

And then, more awkward silence.

But then Aomine cleared his throat, becoming fed up at the time that was being wasted and the uncomfortable silence that was suffocating him. “You wanted to talk, Ryouta. So talk.”

Kise took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for the conversation ahead. “So…… we’re soulmates,” he began awkwardly.

“I’m well aware of that.”

“You don’t have to be so condescending! I’m trying to have this conversation!”

“I didn’t say anything! Shut up, you brat.”

“I thought you wanted me to talk,” Kise muttered.

Aomine growled, grabbing at his hair in frustration. “Fine, then I’ll just say what we’re both thinking. How the fuck are we soulmates?”

Kise stared at him for a while, and Aomine was almost sorry that what he said had potentially offended him. But then Kise burst out laughing, in a genuinely amused way that Aomine hadn’t heard in a long, long time.

“So blunt, Aominecchi,” Kise snickered. “But unfortunately true. I’m still wondering that myself. I mean, I don’t think we have anything in common.”

Aomine grunted. “I mean, we both play basketball.”

“You know that’s not what I meant! Millions of people play basketball, Aominecchi! Does that mean all of them are our soulmates too?”

“Obviously not,” Aomine snapped. “Stop digressing, you brat.”

Kise scrunched his nose. “Okay, you’ve got to stop calling me that.”

Aomine scoffed. “I’ll stop once you stop calling me Aominecchi.”

“Never!”

“Then I guess you better get used to your new name, brat.”

Kise huffed in protest, but then suddenly brightened, as if a new idea just sprang to mind. “Maybe we’re one of those opposite couples that have nothing in common but somehow work!”

Aomine almost choked on his own saliva at that sentence, knitting his eyebrows together before furiously stating, “We’re not a couple!”

But he was met with Kise’s confused expression. “You know that we’re soulmates right? Usually after people find out, they start dating. Because, you know, they’re meant for each other?”

“And you think we’re in any position to _date_ right now?” Aomine asked, genuinely flabbergasted at the suggestion. They’d barely talked for ten minutes and the fool was already mentioning dating. “Look Ryouta, I don’t even think I like guys. Hell, I didn’t even know you were into guys! And so I’m thinking maybe they got these wrong or something. Because there’s no way in hell that we’re soulmates.”

But then Kise remained silent for a long time, and now Aomine was beginning to worry that he’d actually offended the blonde this time. But then Kise quietly said, “The necklaces are never wrong, Aominecchi. Why are you fighting this so much? Am I really that bad of a person to have as a soulmate?”

And at those last few words, Aomine felt a little stab in his chest, an unfamiliar feeling that his cold, empty heart didn’t understand. But suddenly, he felt a small pang of guilt and sadness at Kise’s crestfallen expression, and he found himself struggling to say something to ease the blow of his words.

“No…… of course not, Ryouta. It’s just-“ Aomine sighed heavily. “This is just too overwhelming and confusing, okay? I don’t even know where we stand, because we haven’t even begun to talk about the last time when we were still friends.”

“Oh yeah, until you became a selfish asshole and cut me out of your life!” Kise snapped, the anger and resentment from the earlier match bubbling up again after hearing how casually Aomine talked of the event that had broken his heart into a million pieces.

Aomine’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not exactly innocent in this either, you know,” he hissed. “You were just as proud and self-centred as the rest of the Generation of Miracles. I did what I had to do. I needed to be my own man.”

“Well, you could’ve been your own man without being a dick!” Kise yelled back. “Do you know how much that affected me? How long it took for me to finally trust someone as a friend again after you started ignoring me?”

Aomine didn’t say a word, only the sound of his laboured breathing filling the air as Kise continued to rant and get it out of his system.

“I understand why,” he continued as he locked eyes with Aomine. “After all, I was there too. The pressure was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. But that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.”

There were a few more seconds of heavy breathing as the two stared at each other, both refusing to back down from the fight. But now that all the hurt and anger from their past was out in the open, it seemed as if the worst was over, and Aomine finally broke the silence with his gruff sigh.

“I’m not going to apologise,” he grunted. “I did what I had to do at the time.”

But despite his words, Kise could sense a very slight change in him, in the way he seemed somewhat lighter and less abrasive than his usual self. As if he was actually trying to give this a chance, even though he was still struggling to.

“But……?” Kise prompted.

“But,” Aomine exhaled, Satsuki’s words about his happiness still a loop in his mind. “It’s not like I have anything better to do anyway. And if this bullshit turns out to be real then I guess…… it makes sense to try hanging out again, doesn’t it?”

And at that, Kise grinned and couldn’t help the feelings of hope and happiness that surged inside of him. However, in getting caught up in his excitement, without thinking he leaned down and rested his head lightly against the crook of Aomine’s arm, where he felt the latter stiffen under the sudden contact.

But Kise simply closed his eyes and allowed himself to soak in the moment, because he had found his _soulmate_. Even if he turned out to be the biggest jackass and the last person he’d ever expected, and despite the fact that they still had so many things to do and talk about before they could properly progress.

But as Kuroko Tetsuya once said, some things unfolded in the most unexpected way. And even though they were both still as confused and scared and unsure of the future as before, Ryouta Kise knew deep down in his heart that somehow, everything would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so sorry for taking so long to upload this chapter - it's been a busy week and i was having the WORST writer's block writing these parts :( i modified the chapter plans so that this chapter would be longer as a way of apology!! thank you all for supporting me and do let me know what you think, if you have any suggestions etc, i would love to hear everything<3 hope you like this chapter


	6. Knowing You... Again

That night, Ryouta Kise immediately went to bed after being overwhelmed by the day’s events, and he woke up to multiple missed calls and texts from Kuroko, Kagami, Kasamatsu, and even Satsuki, all demanding to know what was going on and if he was alright.

He copy and pasted a reassuring response to each of them, and made a mental note to issue a proper apology to his teammates and coach for running away in the middle of the game. He learned that they’d lost to Too Academy 92-84, but it was only a matter of the overall physical strength and stamina of their teammates after the two aces had made their exit.

Kise set his phone down beside him and sighed at the thought of having to get up, before forcing himself to get ready to head to the arena to watch the finals match between Too and Rakuzan. Kasamatsu had announced a rest day today, so Kise thought that he and Aomine could spend some time together after his game.

Well…… not that he had actually _asked_ Aomine yet. But Kise found that he could be very persuasive if he wanted to and frankly, he was pretty positive that Aomine wouldn’t be very busy outside the game either.

To his and everyone else’s surprise, Rakuzan and Too didn’t put Akashi or Aomine in to play, and in the end Rakuzan had emerged victorious. Following the cheers that resounded for the champion team, Kise slipped away from the stands and sprinted downstairs towards the locker rooms, where he hoped to catch his target.

As he approached the corridor leading to Too Academy’s designated locker room, he caught sight of a flash of navy blue hair that disappeared around the corner. The weak glow of his necklace confirmed his suspicions and he huffed as he speeded up to catch up with the figure.

“Aominecchi!” Kise called out.

Aomine stopped walking, his shoulders visibly tensing before he let out a sigh and turned around to face the blonde.

“So you came,” Aomine muttered. “That was embarrassing. Stupid bakas couldn’t hold their own even when Akashi wasn’t playing.”

“They didn’t have you either,” Kise countered, furrowing his brows at his soulmate’s pessimistic stance on his teammates. _Was this really the person who he was supposed to fall in love with?_ “And stop being rude, your teammates put in effort too!"

“Whatever.”

Aomine was about to walk away again before he suddenly thought about why Kise had come to find him in the first place.

“Did you need something?” He asked him, and Kise immediately brightened when reminded of his original intentions.

“Yup.” Kise grinned. “You.”

Aomine knitted his brows in confusion. “Excuse me?”

“I came to find you so that we could spend some time together after your game! You know…… soulmates and whatnot?”

Aomine frowned in response. “Okay first, you didn’t even ask if we could hang out. And second, what makes you think that I’m free, anyway? I could have had stuff to do.”

“Obviously you would be free. You have no friends and no life! All you do is look at magazines and play basketball. And sleep like a pig,” Kise pointed out, so earnestly and matter-of-factly that Aomine didn’t know whether to punch him or feel embarrassed that it was true.

“…… Fine,” Aomine grumbled. “Just shut up about all that. What did you want to do?”

The two started walking towards the exit together, and Kise couldn’t help but grin at his success before answering. “I didn’t really plan anything. I just thought that we could just grab some food and talk to get to know each other a little better! Since I don’t really know much about high school Aominecchi……”

And for some reason Aomine couldn’t seem to deny that request, because frankly he wanted to get to know high school Ryouta Kise too. So he simply gave a stoic nod and let Kise drag them to the park, where he bought them both some rather dubious fast food from a cart and sat them down on a secluded bench.

“Kurokocchi and I came here a few days ago,” Kise mumbled through a mouthful of his lunch as he watched the leaves falling from the trees across from them. The wind carried them away in a soft whisper, and Kise briefly wondered what it would be like to be that easy and worry-free.

“Gross, don’t talk with your mouth full, you brat. And for what?” Aomine said, after taking a hesitant bite of his food and swallowing it.

Kise snorted. “I found out that Kasamatsu senpai wasn’t my soulmate, and panicked and called Kurokocchi so that I could walk his dog and then we had a heart-to-heart about it.”

Aomine raised a brow at his soulmate’s shenanigans, but only latched onto one of the things he said. “Love that dog,” he cackled, throwing his head back. “Number Two, was it? Haven’t even met him yet, but I heard that he scares the shit out of Kagami.”

“Don’t invalidate people’s fears, Aominecchi - that’s rude! And don’t you care that I was almost taken by senpai and could’ve been his soulmate?” Kise huffed in annoyance.

“But you’re mine, aren’t you?”

Kise flushed at Aomine’s sentence, evidently shocked by his directness and surprised at the claim. He knew that Aomine didn’t exactly grasp the implied double meaning of his words, but that made Kise smile even more.

“Yeah,” he murmured. “I guess I am.”

Both of them managed to take a few more bites of their lunch in silence before Kise spoke up again.

“Aominecchi, let’s play 20 questions or something! I heard that couples like to use that game to get to know each other.”

“Again, not a couple,” Aomine reminded him gruffly. “But sure, whatever. You go first.”

The blonde took a moment to ponder a good starting question. “Okay… favourite food?”

“Teriyaki burger,” Aomine answered. “You?”

“Onion gratin soup!”

“Gross, what the hell even is that?”

“It’s good!”

They bickered back and forth on the makings of the soup and the versatility of onions before Aomine rolled his eyes and stopped that conversation for the sake of his sanity. He and Kise’s ability to argue about even the smallest things was something that he couldn’t ever comprehend. “Guess it’s my turn,” he muttered. “Um…… I don’t know. Favourite animal I guess?”

Kise pouted, sticking out his lower lip like a child who couldn’t get his way. “Hmm, it’s so hard to choose, Aominecchi! But I guess my favourites would have to be polar bears or dogs, they’re super cute! But I love all of them!”

“Okay, sure. Mine’s a monkey.”

“Ooh, kind of like you! Dangly limbs and annoying personality and all,” Kise giggled, and the navy haired boy shot him a sharp glare at the comparison. If anything, that brat was describing _himself_ , but Aomine held back his retort.

“Just go, it’s your turn,” he grunted, scowling at his counterpart who laughed at his reaction.

“You’re no fun.” Kise stuck his tongue out at him, and Aomine couldn’t help but notice that this wasn’t the first display that proved that Kise was actually just a kid in a sixteen-year-old’s body. “Ooh, I know a fun one. Sexual orientation?”

Aomine almost choked on his bread, and he hacked away at his chest for a few moments before managing to gather some air in his lungs again.

“Straight, until you showed up and ruined everything because apparently my soulmate is a _boy_ ,” Aomine glowered, still not over the fact that he had spent hours afterwards questioning his preferences and that he had to give up on his dream of being with a girl with big breasts. “What about you, anyway? You gay or what?”

Kise snorted at his partner’s dilemma and assumption, before shrugging his reply, “Bi or Pan I think. I don’t know, I find everyone attractive! Doesn’t really matter to me who they are or what they identify as.”

Aomine nodded, surprised at Kise’s openness and willingness to accept anybody. But somehow, it suited him.

“Cool. I guess it gave you a lot of options before all this happened, huh?"

Kise blushed slightly, but it didn’t go unnoticed by Aomine. “Actually, I’ve never really had a crush on anyone before,” Kise confessed, shocking his soulmate. Out of all of them, Ryouta Kise was the most attractive and openly flirted with anything that breathed, so it came as a surprise to Aomine that Kise had never once genuinely returned any feelings.

“Well, I guess there was Kasamatsu senpai,” Kise continued. “But that was pretty short-lived. I don’t even know if I actually liked him or just thought he was cool, because he’s awesome! But yeah, that was probably the most exciting thing to happen in my love life before you.”

Aomine nodded, accepting this new information, and he also surprised himself when he felt a sense of relief wash over him at the thought of Kise not being with anyone else. _They only just started talking again - why was he already feeling territorial?_

“What about you?” Kise questioned him. “Any previous gallivanting with a lovely lady? Any fangirls that I have to compete with now?”

“No,” Aomine scoffed in reply. “All the girls in Too didn’t have big breasts or an ass, and the one girl who did was a real bitch. And you wouldn’t have to compete with anyone, baka, we’re already intertwined or whatever. If anything I’d have to watch my back for _your_ fangirls in case they try to murder me.”

“Probably true,” Kise giggled, and Aomine suddenly felt a tiny smile come onto his face at Kise’s happy sound. “Alright, it’s your turn now, Aominecchi. Last one.”

Aomine thought about it for a few moments but he honestly, couldn’t for the life of him, think of anything interesting. And so with a sigh he asked, “Favourite colour?”

Kise tilted his head in deep thought. “Hmm…… maybe blue,” he mused. “No particular shade - even though Kurokocchi’s blue is super nice - but I don’t know. Something about blue seems really relaxing. But actually I love all the colours too!”

Aomine had to physically restrain himself from facepalming. “Of course you like all of them,” he muttered, shooting a glare at the blonde who merely gave him a sheepish, yet cheeky grin.

“Well, I guess mine’s yellow,” Aomine continued to say, and Kise raised his brows in astonishment.

“I’m surprised,” Kise admitted. “You’re so dark and gloomy, Aominecchi. I thought it’d be black or something.”

“I’m not that depressing!” Aomine defended himself. “Yellow’s nice! It’s bright, or whatever. Makes me feel like the world isn’t as bleak as it seems.”

He half expected Kise to make fun of his answer, but when he turned to face him, he found him wearing a genuine smile.

“You’re kind of a softie, Aominecchi.” Kise poked fun at him, and Aomine sent him a fierce glare to which Kise seemed completely immune to - when to anyone else it would’ve scared them into leaving.

But Kise never gave any indication of leaving - instead the pair continued to sit in that same spot as they talked about all the things they were doing with their lives, blind to the setting sun and the increasingly chilly weather that signalled the time passing by.

Kise learned of Aomine’s habit of sleeping on Too Academy’s roof whenever he wasn’t in class, similar to his naps back in Teiko, and Aomine listened to questionable stories of Kise’s various modelling gigs and Kaijo’s gruelling training, grunting and dodging whenever Kise flapped his arms about to emphasise his story.

Aomine was surprised at how easy it was to talk to Kise again, after all they’d only just patched things over - and truthfully he’d expected Kise to throw a fit over his lack of apology for the past. But here the blonde was, sitting next to his ex-best friend and talking to him animatedly without a trace of resentment or hesitance, his eyes bright and full of hope for all the days following.

 _He’s forgiving_ , Aomine considered, studying Kise closely and staring just a little too hard at him. _And he’s always been easy to be with. He’s pretty extraordinary._

They slipped in a few questions for each other here and there, getting to know the new versions of each other and discovering if anything had changed. Their conversation shifted wildly back and forth from gossiping about their opponents to whether or not zebras were black with white stripes or white with black stripes, and Aomine and Kise barely paid attention to the time as they talked.

It was familiar, Kise realised. The way that he could tell Aomine anything in the world because even though he knew that he would be severely judged by him, they both ultimately didn’t care. The way that Aomine’s blunt thinking evened out his idealistic excitement. The way Aomine didn’t censor whatever he said, because he knew that Kise would accept him no matter what.

Eventually though, nighttime fell and the quiet stillness that engulfed the park prompted the pair to finally part ways. However, just as they got up and Kise went to throw away their trash for them, Aomine was struck by a distant memory of the two of them, back at Kise’s second week on the Teiko basketball team during a late night practice.

_“Alright everyone, evening practice is over. You can go home now,” Akashi Seijuro declared._

_Most of the team members dispersed almost immediately, eager to rush home after the exhausting practice that always ended past 9.30pm. Aomine and Kuroko were on duty and stayed behind to pick up the balls and keep the equipment in the storage room, when suddenly a floaty voice pierced the otherwise quiet gym._

_“Aominecchi! Kurokocchi! You’re both still here. Would either of my lovely besties like the honour of walking me home?” Kise chirped, skipping towards them with his duffel bag slung over his shoulders._

_Aomine raised a brow. “And why?”_

_Kise scrunched his nose, gaze flitting towards the open gym doors where the only light from outside were the dim streetlamps. “I’m…… kind of scared of the dark,” he admitted reluctantly, hanging his head. “This is my first evening training and I’ve never gone home from school in the dark before, and I’m pretty! And famous! What if some ruffian decides to kidnap me?”_

_“I highly doubt that anyone would want to kidnap you if they knew what you were actually like,” Kuroko said quietly, and Aomine snorted but Kise began to throw a new fit._

_“Kurokocchi, I’m serious! I could be sold for a lot of money, or worse! What if they try to sell me and nobody wants me?” Kise continued to wail, and Aomine knew that he had to put a stop to it before the nitwit burst his last remaining brain cells._

_“Alright, alright, calm down. Kuroko lives a bit out of the way so I’ll take you, just be quiet now.”_

_Kise gasped, eyes widening as he threw himself at the navy-haired boy and wrapped his arms around his neck, chiming “Thank you, Aominecchi! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”, and Kuroko tried not to laugh at the obviously awkwardly uncomfortable Aomine._

With that memory, Aomine suddenly felt the urge to make sure that Kise would be comfortable and safe when going home. And so when Kise returned, Aomine cleared his throat and faced him. “I’ll walk you home.”

“Oh! You don’t have to,” Kise replied quickly, but his counterpart could sense the nervous edge to his voice and he instantly knew that Kise still had a phobia of walking home in the dark, but was trying not to let him on to it.

“It’s fine, Ryouta. I know you, you’re still scared of the dark. Just let me walk you home.”

Kise knew that if he didn’t accept Aomine’s offer, they’d start bickering again and they’d get home even later. So without another word of protest, he slowly nodded with a grateful smile and together they headed in the direction of Kise’s house.

Truthfully, Kise was also a little speechless at the fact that Aomine remembered this small detail about him, and even offered his company to him.

 _Maybe he’s going soft already_ , Kise thought, inwardly grinning. _Or maybe, he just really does know me_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for another wait for this chapter, the holidays are big in my family and it's been a little busy :'( also suffered from writer's block again sigh... i have rough ideas of what to write but do let me know if you have any suggestions for the next chapter<3 would love any feedback on the story so far as well! thank you for reading everyone, and happy holidays to all!!


	7. Double Date = Double Trouble

More than a week passed before Kise and Aomine were able to meet again, as both schools started to resume practice following their rest day after the Inter-High. Aomine still refused to show up for his practices, but Kise was fully committed to avenging Kaijo at the Winter Cup.

Currently, Kise was lounging on Aomine’s couch, mindlessly watching TV while simultaneously letting his eyes roam around the apartment. Despite the year that had passed since the last time he’d properly visited, the place still looked pretty much the same.

Meanwhile, Aomine was in the adjacent kitchen, making them sandwiches while listening to the droning of the show playing in the background. He was just putting the finishing touches when Kise’s lilting voice floated towards him.

“Aominecchi,” Kise called out lazily. “When are we going to start dating?”

Aomine gave a half-snort, half-sigh at the question that Kise had been bugging him about both in real life and on text. For some reason, the idiot was obsessed with wanting them to be an official couple, but Aomine still kept his distance.

Technically, it didn’t really matter whether or not they labelled it, because they already knew that they were supposed to end up together and they’d probably just continue doing the same things that they were already doing anyway. But for some reason, Aomine still felt the slightest bit uneasy - whether it was because of their past or because he still didn’t really feel any romantic feelings for Kise yet, he didn’t know.

For now, Aomine was just content to be friends again, and he answered with a simple, “Not yet”, that had Kise pouting in impatience. He grabbed the plates and carried them over to the coffee table, and Kise’s eyes widened.

“Holy shit, Aominecchi! These look so good!”

He pilfered one of the sandwiches from the plate and took a huge bite out of it, eyes lighting up in delight. “They taste really good too! You can cook?”

Aomine shrugged, lazily grabbing the other sandwich and taking a bite as well. “You learn when you’re left alone at home, I guess. I got sick of take-out after a while.”

Kise vaguely recalled Aomine telling him that his parents hardly stayed at home, and he admired the fact that Aomine turned something seemingly negative into a positive, useful skill. He added the fact that Aomine was a genius chef to the growing list of traits he was learning about him, and he was honestly struck that the brash Aomine possessed such a domestic skill.

“Aominecchi, you have to cook for me one day!” Kise prodded, using one hand to continue gobbling down his sandwich and the other to continuously poke at Aomine’s cheek until he relented.

“Fine, fine! I’ll cook for you one day! Stop poking me, you brat. I need to eat too.”

They sat in silence after that, the sounds of their chewing the only noise for a while. Until suddenly Kise spoke up.

“Speaking of food……” Kise drawled out hopefully, and Aomine’s senses immediately started tingling.

 _Oh no_ , he thought. _Kise’s up to something._

He threw a wary glance at the blonde next to him, who started looking up at him with puppy dog eyes. Which could only mean one thing - he wanted something.

“I kind of…… asked Kurokocchi and Kagamicchi…… if we could have a double date tonight……” Kise said sheepishly, and Aomine felt his eyes instantly bug out.

“Why the hell would you do that?” Aomine pretty much screeched, staring at Kise with the most panicked expression he’d ever seen from him.

“Why not? We haven’t gone out on a proper date yet. I figured you were nervous, so I thought that having some friends there would help,” Kise explained, looking a little confused. “I thought it’d be okay with you.”

“Ryouta, I can’t,” Aomine said quickly, horrified. “Just because you’re best friends with him now doesn’t mean that I am. The last time I played against them, I won and walked past him and never looked back. Not to mention what happened in middle school. He probably hates me!”

Aomine couldn’t even remember the last time Kuroko had looked at him without looking at him as if he were a monster. That day in the rain when he and Kuroko permanently ended their friendship was still engraved in his mind - and Kuroko’s heartbroken expression was something that he wouldn’t ever forget for a long, long time. Hell, his last good memory of them was over two years ago, when Kuroko had stuffed his ice-cream down the back of Aomine’s shirt.

The thought of seeing Kuroko Tetsuya again filled him with dread, and Aomine was surprised by how worked up he was getting over this. He was supposed to be unbothered about everything in the world - and yet he found himself floundering over the thought of seeing his ex-partner in crime again.

_What’s happening to me? Why do I care so much?_

His panicked thoughts were interrupted by a warm hand on his shoulder, and he turned to find Kise instinctively putting his hand on him in an attempt to calm him down. However, he immediately retracted his hand when he realised just what he was doing, and Kise blushed furiously and hoped that Aomine was too preoccupied to notice.

“Aominecchi, I don’t think Kurokocchi’s angry at you,” Kise said softly. “In fact, I don’t think you’re angry at him either. I think that both of you were just torn apart by really sad circumstances. We were in a high-pressure situation, and I understand now and I’ve forgiven you. I think that Kurokocchi would have forgiven you by now, too.”

Aomine remained silent for a few moments, processing Kise’s words. How did the wild and carefree Kise manage to make sense of his crowded thoughts and logically put everything into perspective for him? Was this some kind of special voodoo soulmate power thing?

 _No_ , Aomine thought. _It’s a Ryouta Kise thing. He’s always been able to read and understand me._

A little too well, he realised. But at that moment, Aomine was grateful that Kise was so conscious of his thoughts and emotions, and for the first time in a long while, it felt nice to share the burden of his feelings with someone else.

“Besides,” Kise continued. “I think that Kurokocchi would’ve told me if he didn’t want to see you. He misses you, no matter what happened on the court. And I think you miss him too.”

And that was how Aomine found himself standing next to Kise at the train station later that night, waiting for Kuroko and Kagami to arrive for their double date. The uncertainness of the situation unnerved him, and he couldn’t seem to stop tapping his foot against the floor, eyes flitting back and forth in an attempt to spot the pair in advance.

“I can’t believe you talked me into this,” Aomine muttered, fingers drumming against his side apprehensively.

Kise hummed, turning to Aomine and giving him a quick wink. “Soulmate superpowers,” Kise whispered, and Aomine couldn’t hold back his snort, glad for the small distraction. But his nervousness quickly creeped up on him again.

“More like brainwashed me into thinking that this was a good idea. I’m freaking out, Ryouta.”

“Oh, it’s obvious,” Kise smirked, and Aomine glared at him as he laughed playfully at him.

“Don’t be so serious Aominecchi,” Kise chided gently, turning to face him and making eye contact with Aomine’s deep blue eyes. His hands reached out to adjust Aomine’s scarf, and the simple domesticity of the action seemed to calm him down slightly. Kise’s hands continued to rove downwards as Aomine let out a calming breath, and he lightly caressed Aomine’s glowing soulmate necklace before reaching down to slip his palm into Aomine’s cold hand.

“You’re going to do just fine,” Kise whispered in his ear with a small squeeze of their hands, just as Aomine caught sight of Kagami’s distinct red hair heading towards them.

“Kise!” Kagami hollered, and suddenly Aomine noticed the mop of pale blue hair next to him. He felt himself freeze as the pair came closer to them, while Kise greeted them animatedly with a fist-bump and a hug.

He felt like a child hiding behind his parents’ legs, afraid and unsure of what to do. He just watched dumbly as the trio joked about comfortably, until suddenly Kise’s arm shot out and pulled him into their circle.

“Aominecchi, say hi!” Kise smiled, and Aomine was finally face to face with the people who he had shamelessly taunted the last time they’d met.

Kuroko’s eyes seemed to drill into him, but Aomine had never been able to make out the expressions on his face and consequently, never knew what he was feeling. However, Kagami seemed to be in good spirits despite seeing his rival, giving a punch to his arm and greeting him with a friendly, “Aomine.”

Aomine nodded back in greeting before turning to face Kuroko. Aomine felt himself crack, and he attempted to muster a few words.

“Hi, Tetsu.”

Aomine wasn’t prepared for the emotions that flooded in Kuroko’s baby blue eyes at the nickname, but then Kuroko cracked a small smile at the acknowledgement.

“Hi, Aomine,” Kuroko greeted back softly. “It’s nice to see you two together.”

And at the exchange, Aomine let out a breath that he didn’t even realise he was holding. Kuroko didn’t completely hate him. Kuroko was _smiling_ at him. Okay, this was good.

He felt Kise’s palm snake back into his own again before feeling the accompanying gentle squeeze that seemed to say “I told you so”, and Aomine held back the small smile that threatened to show on his face. As usual, Kise was right again, but this time Aomine didn’t feel the urge to one-up him or bicker with him.

Weird.

The four of them started on towards the movie theatre, where they were supposed to see some new anime romance film that Aomine knew absolutely nothing about. He had simply let the rest do whatever they pleased and followed along with whatever they decided.

The movie itself was rather uneventful, and Kuroko and Kagami just spent the entire time cuddling next to each other, whispering things in each other’s ears occasionally. At one point in time, Aomine spotted Kagami tracing a play on the back of the seat in front of him, and he refrained from rolling his eyes. Those two were just too obsessed with basketball for their own good.

But luckily, for some unknown reason, Kise was completely absorbed by the bad movie, and so he didn’t witness Aomine struggling next to him. The navy-haired boy spent half of the movie fighting the urge to doze off and the other half of it furiously debating if he should try to put his arm around the back of Kise’s seat in an attempt to be somewhat affectionate like the other couple.

But before his indecisive self could finally make a decision, the lights began to turn on and he realised with a start that the movie had ended. He quickly removed his trailing fingers and inwardly cursed himself, but also felt somewhat relieved that he wouldn’t have to make the awkward move. Maybe during dinner later.

Kise immediately jumped up and started to pester Kagami about the movie, not noticing the slightly panicked look on the latter’s face due to the fact that he didn’t pay any attention to it at all. However, that left Kuroko and Aomine to walk next to each other on their way to the restaurant, the awkward silence deafening.

The two of them strayed behind, quietly watching Kise wave his arms about wildly, probably talking about his favourite parts of the movie. At one point in time, his left arm smacked Kagami right in the face, but Kise either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

“He does that a lot,” Kuroko murmured suddenly, startling Aomine. “Flail his arms about when talking.”

Aomine recalled their conversation in the park and gave a snort. “He does. Almost killed me last week when he was talking about one of modelling gigs. I had to duck like a fucking ninja.”

Kuroko gave a short, muffled giggle, but then they lapsed into another uncomfortable silence. Both of them looked at the ground while they walked, unsure of how to communicate. Despite standing side by side, the distance between them seemed to span miles, and neither one of them seemed to want to take the leap.

But finally, Aomine tried to break the silence with a clear of his throat. “Listen, Tetsu-“

“No.”

Aomine looked surprised at the interjection, obviously not expecting Kuroko to speak up so harshly. But he didn’t protest, instead choosing to remain silent.

“Aomine, I don’t forgive you,” Kuroko said quietly but firmly, and at those words Aomine felt a tiny pang of guilt and hurt pierce his heart.

But he had no right to feel that way, didn’t he? _He_ was the one who messed up and ruined everything around him. _He_ was the one who treated his best friends like shit, just because he felt like shit too.

“Look, we’re still rivals. And it hurt when you changed and started being an asshole. I don’t think that I can forgive you until we finally beat you,” Kuroko stated.

It was a tough pill to swallow, but Aomine didn’t really expect any forgiveness so fast anyway. He already counted himself lucky that Kuroko and Kise were even willing to talk to him again. It was his turn to feel the brunt of their hurt, and he wanted to make things right - no matter how long it took.

“I understand-” Aomine started, but Kuroko held up a hand that silenced him again.

“But,” Kuroko continued. “Kise’s one of my best friends. I don’t know why you two are soulmates yet, but he’s pretty taken by you. And if all of us hanging out together makes Kise happy, I’m wiling to put aside our past for now.”

And Aomine didn’t have a chance to reply before Kuroko looked up at him and gave a small, but hopeful look that completely disarmed him and left him speechless.

“Besides,” Kuroko said quietly. “I’ve missed you.”

Aomine felt the air knock out of his lungs at the confession, continuing to stare at the smaller boy in front of him with emotions he couldn’t really decipher. All he knew was that he screwed up, and here Kuroko was, offering him an olive branch and telling him that he still thought of him. And damn it if Aomine wasn’t going to take the new chance that he was being offered.

“I’ve missed you too, Tetsu.”

The pair shared a small smile, a certain familiarity and peacefulness settling between them, any signs of turmoil or bitterness gone. It was the kind of natural ease that only the two of them could have, having shared so many special moments together before.

The original light and shadow. Now both having moved on, but still choosing to stay connected.

Aomine couldn’t have asked for anything more.

The peace of their truce was then overshadowed by Kise and Kagami stopping in front of a quaint little ramen shop, Kise loudly insisting that this was the place and Kagami arguing that it was another one.

However, Kuroko simply stepped forward and tugged on Kagami’s hand, not-so-stealthily whispering that it was indeed the place that they had previously agreed on and that Kagami was completely mistaken. It was amazing how easily Kuroko could approach the headstrong boy and talk him down, and Aomine was admittedly captivated by the flow of their relationship.

With Kagami turning slightly red-faced, the couple followed a triumphant-looking Kise and embarrassed Aomine inside the shop. They were led to a table near the back and Kagami immediately pulled out a chair for Kuroko, gentlemanly mannerism perfected after months of being together.

 _Shit_ , Aomine thought. _I should do that too and make up for the movie just now. I can’t let Bakagami beat me in fucking_ romance.

And so without thinking, Aomine’s arm reached out to grab the back of Kise’s chair, yanking at it without realising that Kise was already halfway to sitting down. Kise’s ass landed on the floor with a painful-sounding thump, and Aomine looked in horror as Kise lay sprawled on the ground.

“What the hell, Aominecchi!” Kise yowled, rubbing at his behind in an attempt to soothe the pain. “What on earth was that for?”

“I-I’m sorry! Shit! I didn’t know you were already going to sit!” Aomine immediately tried to apologise, stretching out a hand to help Kise up. The blonde glared hard at him as he grabbed his hand, pulling himself up and dusting off his clothes.

“How did you not see me already pull out my own chair?” Kise demanded, adjusting his chair’s position before taking a seat indignantly.

“It was an accident, you brat! I was trying to do something nice and you just did the rest yourself!” Aomine retaliated, sitting down in his own chair and crossing his arms across his chest, giving Kise a glare of his own.

And Kuroko and Kagami, being the little shits that they were together, simply watched the scene unfold in mirth and tried their best not to laugh at the bickering idiots in front of them. Despite the fact that they seemed to pointlessly quarrel everywhere they went, in some strange way, Aomine Daiki and Ryouta Kise were somehow perfect for each other.

After a while, the two of them finally stopped arguing with a huff on both sides - instead they picked up the menus and focused on choosing what to order after Kise’s stomach grumbled loudly. And for the rest of the meal, the four of them participated in easy conversation, gossiping about their ex-teammates and exposing each others’ embarrassing stories.

Aomine found out that Midorima and Murasakibara had both miraculously found their soulmates almost instantly, Midorima’s being his teammate Kazunari Takao and Murasakibara’s being the sweet girl who worked at the convenience store he always went to for snacks. Kise teased Aomine about how he volunteered to walk him home the other night while simultaneously complaining about how they weren’t a couple yet, and Kagami and Kuroko recounted the beginnings of their own relationship.

Without them even realising it, almost four hours had passed with them talking animatedly to one another. And during those four hours, Aomine sometimes found his mind wandering from the conversation and focusing on the pair of soulmates in front of him.

It was the way that the two of them unconsciously shifted closer to each other throughout the meal that caught his eye. The way that Kagami immediately wrapped his jacket around Kuroko’s shoulders the moment he shivered without any hesitation. The way that the two seemed so in sync with each other despite being opposites, and how they were comfortable and assured and just _happy_ to be in each other’s presence whether they were agreeing or squabbling.

And Aomine found himself staring at the rowdy blonde next to him when he noticed these things, because damn it he could have that with _him_. Ryouta Kise was right there, waiting for him, and Aomine found himself actually _wanting_ to have all that with the brat. Kise constantly annoyed him - _God_ he was annoying - but Aomine had to admit that he was completely captivated by both his softer side and the side that was never afraid to challenge him.

…… What the hell was happening to him? Was he…… developing _feelings_ for him? How did he go from being so against them dating to suddenly wanting to discover everything that they could be?

Aomine was so lost in thoughts that he had to be brought back to the present by a hard nudge from his soulmate in question, but as he turned to glare at Kise for the jab, he found that he couldn’t stop staring at him even when Kise turned back to face their company.

His gaze traced Kise’s profile - the golden eyes that constantly tried to persuade him to do things he never wanted to do, the mouth that stretched into a smile so blinding yet soft, the cheeks that he’d slapped on numerous occasions in the past.

Aomine didn’t really understand the emotions that were stirring in his chest, or why he suddenly felt the strange need to make Kise as happy as Kuroko and Kagami seemed.

But he knew one thing for sure - he was finally going to give Ryouta Kise exactly what he wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for the comments and support <3 happy new year everyone!! may 2021 bring you all the joys and blessings that you deserve :)


	8. Operation Ryouta Kise

The next morning, Satsuki Momoi was awoken by the shrill sound of her phone ringing with an incoming call.

She groaned into her pillow, lifting her head slightly to stare at the time on the clock by her bedside.

7 am. Who the hell was calling her at 7 in the morning?

She sleepily wiped the drool off of her face before reaching for her phone to stop the incessant ringing, but suddenly became wide awake when she noticed who was calling her.

_Aomine?_

She immediately picked up the call, thinking that some kind of horrible emergency must have happened to have made the lazy Aomine call her first.

“Dai-chan, what is it? Are you okay?” Satsuki asked hurriedly, confused and concerned at the same time.

“What? Why wouldn’t I be okay?” Aomine scoffed. She could almost see his bored expression just from the tone of his voice, and she felt rage flare within her at the fact that he seemed unbothered despite waking her at this ungodly hour.

“Then why the hell are you calling me at 7 in the morning?” she pretty much yelled into the phone, squeezing her eyes together tightly to avoid the sunlight shining through the window and at her sensitive eyes.

“Geez, sorry Satsuki. I just needed your help with something, don’t need to get so crabby.”

And at those words, Satsuki was absolutely floored. Because if there were two things in the entire world that Satsuki had never dreamed of hearing Aomine Daiki say, it was “sorry” and that he wanted her help.

“Y-You want _my_ help?” Satsuki stuttered, eyes widened in disbelief and curiosity. “With what?”

There was a lengthy pause on the other end, followed by a loud sigh. “I kind of…… wanttoaskRyoutatobemyboyfriend,” Aomine blurted out, so softly and quickly that Satsuki couldn’t tell if those words had actually come out of his mouth.

“You _what_?” she screeched at the top of her lungs, and she heard a yelp on the other end of the line followed by the sound of Aomine rubbing at his ear.

“Oh my God, Satsuki, chill the fuck out,” Aomine shouted back, face already flushing red with embarrassment and horror. He couldn’t believe that he had actually admitted those words out loud, and he was almost regretting asking for her help with this.

“Okay, but _what_? The last time you talked to me, you literally couldn’t stop complaining about how annoying he was. I thought that the both of you would just give up and die alone. And now you want to _ask him to be your boyfriend?_ ”

“Yes, now shut up! I don’t want to explain, just get your ass over here,” Aomine hissed, feeling so incredibly humiliated that he wanted the ground to swallow him whole already. Luckily, he and Satsuki were already long past feeling self-conscious around each other, and deep down he knew that he trusted her with his entire life.

But that didn’t mean that he felt any less like a little girl with a grade-school crush on a boy. _God_ , this was mortifying.

“Fine! Alright, calm down, I’ll be right over,” Satsuki said before hanging up on him, and she showed up on his doorstep twenty minutes later in the most hideous pyjamas that Aomine had ever seen in his life.

“What the hell are you wearing?” he demanded, pulling a face at the matching set of pyjamas that were adorned with cartoon cats all over.

Satsuki stuck her tongue out at him and pushed her way inside his apartment, not even bothering to ask before helping herself to a soda from his fridge.

“One, I said I’d come right over, didn’t I? And two, I really don’t care about what you think of me. You should know that by now.”

Aomine rolled his eyes before grabbing a soda of his own, plopping himself onto the couch where Satsuki had already made herself comfortable.

“Alright, so what now? You want my help with planning your boyfriend proposal?” Satsuki teased, watching Aomine’s cheeks flush red.

“Shut up, Satsuki,” Aomine muttered. “But…… yeah.”

“Aw, don’t be embarrassed, Dai-chan! Gosh, I wish that I had a soulmate to plan cute stuff for too.”

“You can take Ryouta.”

Satsuki smirked at him. “No thanks. He’s all yours.”

Aomine groaned at that and his best friend laughed at his unwillingness to admit his growing affection for his soulmate. It was sort of endearing, really, how Aomine was the one who was trying to make that leap and ask Kise first. She had expected Kise to be the one to make the first move, but here Aomine was, freaking out over how to do it. But even then, she’d half expected him to just shove a bunch of flowers in Kise’s hands and call it a day.

Which, ironically, was the exact plan that Aomine had come up with and had just asked for her opinion on.

“You can’t do that!” Satsuki scolded in disbelief, grabbing a nearby magazine and whacking him on the head with it.

“What the hell was that for?” Aomine howled, grabbing at his head. “Damn it, that actually hurt.”

“That’s the most unromantic thing I’ve ever heard in my life! You’re so bad at this! You have to think about what _Ki-chan_ would like.”

“But that baka’s always so over the top……”

“Exactly! You’ve heard of grand romantic gestures, haven’t you? I’m 100% sure that Ki-chan would appreciate that, especially from you.”

There was a long, quiet pause, and then-

“…… You really think so?”

Satsuki glanced at Aomine, and the hopeful tone and look that he gave her made her soften just a bit.

“I really think so,” Satsuki nodded confidently. “Come on, let’s plan this.”

And so they spent the rest of the morning planning the perfect way to ask Kise, taking turns to scribble on the construction paper that they had found lying somewhere around the apartment.

It was nice, Satsuki realised. The two of them bent over the coffee table, yelling out ideas and fighting over the marker to write them down - and all of this reminded her of when they were younger, back before everything became so complicated.

Now, it was as if the old Aomine had made an appearance - and apparently, all it took was for Ryouta Kise to be back in his life again. No one had been able to draw the navy-haired boy out from his spiral since it began, not even Satsuki, but now Aomine seemed softer, lighter.

And Satsuki Momoi was so, so happy.

-

1 Week Later

For the hundredth time that day, Aomine Daiki wondered why on earth he was doing this.

He furiously drummed his fingers against his right side, his other hand occupied by the large bouquet of red roses that he had purchased from the florist an hour ago. Behind him, Kuroko, Kagami and Satsuki stood guard by a few gigantic burlap sacks full of red rose petals, which had unfortunately cost him a bomb.

He figured that he should’ve been worried about the three of them all together in the same place, but frankly there was no way that he was going to stand in the middle of _that_ shitshow. And he had a more important thing to worry about.

The four of them were waiting outside the gate of Kaijo High for Yukio Kasamatsu to let them inside the school, where Kise was still having classes. There wasn’t any basketball practice after school that day, so Aomine thought that it would be the perfect time to corner Kise.

But for some reason, Aomine couldn’t seem to shake off the nerves as usual. No matter how much he tried to calm himself down and downplay the situation, he was still freaking out. For the first time in a long time, the unbothered boy was actually anxious about wanting something to go right.

Not to mention the awkward text messages between him and Kasamatsu, and trying to coordinate everyone to help him with his grand romantic gesture. He inwardly cussed Kise out for being such a drama queen, and made a mental note to get him back somehow in the future.

However, before Aomine could stress himself out even more, the gate in front of him suddenly slid open and Yukio Kasamatsu poked his head out, raising his brows at the ridiculous bouquet and the dubious burlap sacks resting behind him. The captain beckoned them over with his hand, giving a nod in acknowledgement to each of them while holding the gate open to allow them to pass through easily.

“Ryouta’s class just started, so you have about an hour. The courtyard’s here,” Kasamatsu relayed to the group, and amidst his nervousness Aomine felt a flash of irritation at the fact that the senior called Kise by his first name. As far as Aomine knew, he was the only one who had been close enough to Kise to call him that, but he bit his tongue. Kasamatsu was doing him a huge favour after all.

Instead, Aomine nodded and thanked him, following Kasamatsu to a huge open square that was flanked by the Kaijo school building on three sides.

“So, what can I help with?” Kasamatsu asked, eyes flitting back and forth to assess the ragtag group. He recognised Kuroko and Kagami from their previous practice match, but he had no idea who the pink-haired girl was.

“Oh right, this is Satsuki Momoi. We’ve known each other since we were kids so she’s my best friend or whatever,” Aomine quickly introduced, and Kasamatsu shot her a small but friendly smile. “I think you already know Tetsu and Bakagami here. Anyway, we only have one thing to do which is set up the rose petals, so I guess you can help with that.”

And so for the next fifty minutes, the five of them carefully sprinkled the bright red petals across the courtyard, earning whispers from all the Kaijo students around them gossiping about the flamboyant set-up and who the four strangers were.

Aomine had never felt so hot in his life. His face and neck burned with embarrassment throughout the entire process, and he thanked God that no one he knew was here to make fun of him. But luckily, his nervousness outweighed his humiliation, and he simply let himself ignore the rising murmurs that surrounded them and tried to focus on the task at hand.

Kasamatsu had already left to wait outside of Kise’s classroom and the other three had positioned themselves away from view armed with cameras, so now it was just a matter of waiting. And ten minutes later, the sound of the school bell ringing signalled that the time had finally come.

Whipping out his phone, Aomine pulled up his chat with Kise and typed in the message.

**_Aomine: Come to the corridor of Block B of your school when you’re done with class._ **

A few seconds later, a bubble popped up next to Kise’s icon, and then he finally replied.

**_Kise: Aominecchi! Hi! What’s going on??_ **

**_Aomine: Just go there. Kasamatsu should be with you._ **

**_Kise: Aominecchi I’m scared!! :( What’s happening?_ **

**_Aomine: JUST GO, you brat._ **

After that exchange, Aomine just turned his phone off, keen on ignoring any texts or calls from his idiotic soulmate. At least now Kise was Kasamatsu’s problem, and he was positive that the blonde was probably bombarding his senpai with questions now.

However, with nothing else to distract him now, he felt the nerves hit him full force once again. He double-checked his clothes and the bouquet, navy eyes then scanning the courtyard to make sure that everything was in place. His heart was pounding so hard that he was worried that it would pop out of his chest, and he felt his lungs constricting the longer he waited for Kise to show up.

Where was he?

He stared at the spot where Kasamatsu was supposed to dispose of Kise - the third floor corridor of the centre school building front-facing the square - and felt even more on edge the longer it remained empty. And now that classes had ended, his surroundings started to fill up with even more Kaijo students who contributed to the increasing whispers about him and his gesture. Standing smack in the middle of the courtyard, it was hard to ignore the numerous stares that he was getting.

However, all of that seemed to fade away when he caught a flash of yellow from the corner of the third floor. And then, just as planned, he spotted Kasamatsu attempting to shove Kise to the middle of the corridor, the blonde furrowing his eyebrows as he argued with his senpai on why he needed to do so.

“What’s going on, senpai? Why won’t you tell me?” Kise whined for the thousandth time, incredibly confused by Aomine’s cryptic messages and then Kasamatsu’s strange behaviour.

But then Kise looked away from his senpai for a split second - and that was all it took for him to notice the vibrant red petals against the dull ground of the courtyard below. And when he saw the person standing in the middle of it all, his breath was completely taken away and he couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from the scene.

Written on the ground in thousands of rose petals, were the words:

**Ryouta: Be my boyfriend, please?**

**\- Aominecchi**

Aomine could tell the moment when Kise finally noticed that the spectacle was for him, and he grinned when he saw the complete shock written across his soulmate’s face, Kise’s hands coming up to cover his mouth in amazement. Aomine held his breath as he watched Kise read the words, and he felt the hand clutching the bouquet shake slightly in anticipation.

For a moment, the two of them were frozen in time - simply staring at each other across the distance, the prying eyes of everyone else long forgotten. It was just the two of them, trapped in this moment that they could remember forever.

But then Kise started running, down the corridor and disappearing round the corner while ignoring Kasamatsu’s protests, and Aomine felt his heart drop all the way down to his stomach.

_Shit, was this too much? What if he was embarrassed of him and didn’t want anyone to know? Or was Kise always joking when he talked about them dating? What if he screwed things up between them again? What if-_

But then his breath hitched when he saw Ryouta Kise leaping down the staircase that he disappeared to just now, the blonde breaking into a sprint before his feet even touched the ground level. And then Kise was barreling towards him, so fast and determined that Aomine barely had any time to react before he was tackled to the floor, the bouquet thrown out of his hands.

But Aomine didn’t even care, because he looked up at the boy lying on top of him whose golden eyes stared straight into his blue ones, and he was struck by how _content_ and _dizzyingly euphoric_ he felt in this very moment.

A feeling that was also shared by Kise, who was so swarmed with emotions that he could barely think straight. All he knew was that Aomine had done this for _him_ , Aomine _wanted_ him, and he was so inconceivably touched by the fact that the withdrawn boy had pulled off such a huge public gesture just for him.

He tightened his arms around Aomine’s neck, resting his forehead against his and whispering to him. “Yes, Aominecchi. A million times yes!”

And then he caught sight of Aomine’s mouth lifting into a smile in response, one that was so genuine and so rare that he got his breath stolen once again. But then Aomine opened his mouth to speak, and then the moment was marred by their bickering once again.

“Thank God. These flowers were fucking expensive.”

“Oh my God, Aominecchi. You couldn’t just be romantic for one more second?”

“I literally wrote out a message with rose petals in your school, in front of all your friends and teachers. Give me a break, you brat!”

“Fine, but I can’t believe you did this. I’m so doing the marriage proposal,” Kise declared, and Aomine felt his eyes widen at the insinuation of their future. Of course he knew that they were soulmates and that they were in this for the long run, but hearing Kise say that out loud made everything feel that much more real.

Because up until now, Aomine always had the nagging feeling that all of this was just a dream, and that one day Kise was going to wake up and realise that Aomine wouldn’t be good enough for him.

But having Kise in his arms right now, happy and smiling and confident in them - Aomine Daiki was on top of the world, and he wouldn’t have traded this moment for anything in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!! two chapters today because i'll be busy for the next few days so i wrote in advance, but i'll try to upload more this coming week because the week after that i'll be extremely busy :( nonetheless i'll always try my best to write for yall! your comments keep me going and i appreciate them soso much


	9. Reunions, Schemes and More Confusion

Contrary to Aomine’s grand romantic gesture to get Kise to be his boyfriend, the navy-haired boy still refused to let anything change between the two of them.

It was as if the Aomine Daiki that day was a version of himself that he had only planned to pull out once, before reverting back to the same lazy, grumpy Aomine that he had always been.

And Ryouta Kise was having none of it.

“Aominecchi, go on a date with me already!” Kise lamented, using his arm to swipe at Aomine’s head as he lay draped across Aomine’s couch. The latter was sitting on the floor in front of Kise, listlessly flipping through his magazines and ogling at the girls in them while pointedly ignoring his soulmate’s attempts at persuasion.

“No.”

“Why not?” Kise pouted, exhaling with a dramatic sigh.

Aomine felt his temple throb as he turned his body to glare at the blonde behind him. “Ryouta, just because we’re… dating… now, doesn’t mean that we have to change anything. Why can’t we just be the same as before?”

“Then why did you even bother asking me to be your boyfriend?” Kise shot back, crossing his arms and directing his angry gaze towards the ceiling.

And Aomine felt like he couldn’t really answer that question. Because frankly, he had no fucking idea either. Even after feeling on cloud nine that day, he still had wavering doubts about what he felt for Ryouta Kise - he really wasn’t sure if the slight affection he currently felt for him even qualified as proper feelings for him.

Aomine had only pulled that stunt because at that point in time, the only thing that he knew with certainty amid all the confusion was the unexplained feeling of possessiveness that he had felt for Kise, which resulted in him rushing to lay claim to him.

And maybe that was why Aomine still felt like holding himself back now - because he couldn’t feel right doing anything more without properly sorting out his feelings first.

But his counterpart didn’t seem to like his silence, and Kise huffed in annoyance before getting up from his position on the couch.

“Fine, be that way - I guess we’ll just stay like this forever. I’m going home now.”

Kise snatched his bag from the side of the room before making his way towards the door, and he didn’t turn to look back at Aomine before opening it and walking away. He didn’t really feel angry per se, just frustrated at Aomine’s lack of emotions and response.

Kise didn’t stop as he strode away irritably, his footsteps a mere repetitive action that was lost on him amid his swirling thoughts. He knew that Aomine became rather emotionally constipated after their time at Teiko, but did he really have to be such an ass about everything? He really thought that he had finally gotten through to the boy - for God’s sake Aomine had planned such a public declaration of affection for him - but it seemed that he still hadn’t changed at all.

And Kise felt absolutely miserable. Because maybe Aomine’s feelings would never catch up with his own rapidly growing ones, and maybe they would be stuck in this imbalance forever. He didn’t even know where his excitement and fondness for the boy had come from, but all he knew was that he couldn’t stop the onslaught of butterflies that fluttered in his stomach whenever Aomine was around, or how his heart pounded whenever Aomine did something as simple as smile or laugh.

That meant that he had feelings for Aomine, right? Sure, the stoic, arrogant boy infuriated him more times than he could count, and sometimes it felt like they weren’t on the same page. But there was something special about the way that they communicated, in a way that wasn’t because of the fondness from their past friendship, but rather a new willingness to understand each other and make each other smile.

Maybe he was just too sensitive for Aomine to understand. After all, the last time he’d ever seen Aomine be affectionate was way back when they all still had their baby faces. Maybe after what happened in middle school, he couldn’t expect Aomine to just magically change back to the sweet, funny boy he once was.

Or maybe Aomine Daiki just had absolutely no idea how to proceed from here.

That thought stopped Kise short, and he considered it for a moment. Was it possible that the oblivious and ignorant Aomine just didn’t know how to be in a proper relationship and was now deflecting?

Kise shook his head, a small smile twitching at his lips at the thought of Aomine just being unaware of what to do with Kise now. Honestly, he wouldn’t put it past him to be completely clueless.

Maybe now, after Aomine had taken the first step, it was time for Kise to take the next one.

-

Two Days Later

It started with a phone call.

Or rather, many phone calls and multiple attempts of pleading that finally amounted to this day.

Ryouta Kise hadn’t been sure on how to approach Aomine or convince him to go on their first date together, and so he resorted to the last option that he could think of - pure force.

Unfortunately for him, Aomine was much more physically taller and stronger than he was, a fact that Kise was reluctant to admit and grumbled about constantly. But he figured that he at least beat Aomine in the personality department.

However, his current plan required him to take Aomine against his will, and even he had to admit that it couldn’t be done alone. And so he swallowed his pride and requested the presence of others to help him, and he couldn’t lie and say that he wasn’t slightly embarrassed that he had to go to such lengths just to take his boyfriend on a date.

Currently, Kise was sitting on his couch, waiting for his ride to show up. He checked the time on the wall clock in front of him, unconsciously tapping his feet in impatience.

4.48pm. Where was he?

Luckily, not even two minutes later, the sound of a car horn blaring outside his house eased his anxiety. He stood up, smoothing down his shirt before walking out the front door and coming face to face with a sleek black limousine.

He shook his head in mirth as the driver, a middle-aged man dressed in a dark coat, came around to his side to open the door for him, and once inside Kise smiled brightly at his company.

Meanwhile, Aomine Daiki walked along the streets of Tokyo, the wind nipping at his face as the afternoon started to fade into evening. It had been two days since Kise had stormed out of his apartment, and he was becoming rather uneasy by the lack of action on his end.

There hadn’t been any texts or calls from Kise - all he had gotten was radio silence. And for some reason, that greatly unnerved him. Kise ignoring him transported him back to the past, when he felt constantly restless and discombobulated after their fall-out, and now this same apprehension was crawling its way back into his chest and mind.

Usually by now, Kise would’ve at least tried to wiggle his way back into a conversation or continued to pester him for whatever he wanted, but he hadn’t - and now Aomine was kicking himself at the thought of hurting his soulmate’s feelings.

 _What is wrong with me?_ Aomine groaned internally. _Why didn’t I just agree to one date with him? He’s my boyfriend now, for God’s sake, no matter how confusing my feelings are for him. It’s not like it would’ve killed me. Maybe I should apologise._

His frustrated thoughts continued to swirl around his head, and he didn’t realise how his mindless wandering had gotten him to a rather secluded part of the city, or notice the soft rumble of an engine behind him. His internal turmoil was however interrupted when the soulmate necklace around his neck began to emit an increasingly bright glow, and he picked it up and stared at the changing pendant in confusion.

_Wait, what was going on? Why would it glow now? Unless-_

And then his vision was completely blocked out and he was plunged into darkness, as he felt a cloth bag get pulled over his head and obscure his vision while hands started to grab at him.

“What the fuck?” he yelled, and he began to thrash around as he felt panic flare in him and his self-preservation instincts kicked in. Was he seriously getting kidnapped right now?

His elbow managed to strike someone in the ribs, and he heard a surprised “ow!” that sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t place right away.

But then he was caught by surprise when both of his ankles were forcefully grabbed and he was hoisted upside down, his left shoulder and arm quickly caught and supported by someone else. However, his right side leaned dangerously close towards the ground, and he felt a sharp sting at the back of his head when it hit the hard concrete pavement.

“What the hell, Murasakibara! Put down your snacks and get his right side!” he heard someone snap irritably, and that was when he placed the voice from earlier.

 _Midorima Shintarou_. And wait, did he just say _Murasakibara?_

Aomine’s disbelief disarmed him for a few moments and caused him to temporarily stop flailing his limbs about wildly, which Murasakibara took as a chance to easily pick up his drooping right side after setting his pack of chips aside.

“You’re always so uptight, Mido-chin,” came the lazy drawl that Aomine hadn’t heard in almost two years, and he didn’t have time to wrap his head around the fact that his ex-teammates were literally nabbing him off the sidewalk before he felt himself be shoved inside a vehicle.

However, the forceful and uncoordinated push caused his knee to hit against the door, and Aomine howled in pain as he was thrown onto the carpeted floor.

“Oh my God, you idiots! Sorry, Aominecchi!”

 _Ah, that was why his necklace glowed_.

“Can we go now?” Aomine heard another voice cut in impatiently, and he instantly felt chills go straight down his spine at the familiar, eerie tone. That was a voice that he would never forget - the voice of Akashi Seijuro.

_Wait, did that mean that all of them were here?_

“Yeah, let’s go! Quick!” Aomine heard Kise’s voice exclaim again, and there was the sound of a car door slamming before he felt a steady vibration as the vehicle started to move.

He then felt the tight hands around his ankles and arms loosen and leave him, and he took the opportunity to finally snatch the bag off of his head and face his kidnappers.

But nothing could’ve prepared him for the sight that would greet him - the faces of all of the Generation of Miracles staring back at him, save for Akashi who sat in the passenger seat of the limo next to his driver and Murasakibara who had already started to noisily crunch his chips. Midorima sat next to him with a wooden clock in his hands, his pinched face clearly conveying his disgust at the messy eater, while Kise and Kuroko sat next to each other on the opposite row of seats.

It was so incredibly strange seeing the five of them all together in the same place, and the weirdness of it all momentarily distracted him from the fact that Kise literally stole him off the streets. But soon he began to process what happened, and he turned to the sheepish-looking blonde with the biggest glare that he had ever given in his life.

“Ryouta, what the actual _fuck_ is this?”

Kise at least had the decency to look guilty while he struggled to explain. “Well…… you didn’t want to go on a date! And I was sick of you never wanting to do things with me so I thought that I could force you to join me……”

“And you thought that the best way to do that was to kidnap me while I was walking along the streets?” Aomine demanded incredulously, the entire situation so ridiculous that he felt the intense urge to just strangle Kise until he turned blue in the face. Only he could come up with something like this. “How did you even know where to find me?”

Face turning a light blush colour, Kise slowly held up his phone towards him in response, and Aomine felt his anger dissolve slightly when nostalgia washed over him at what he saw on the screen.

“No……” he murmured. “Seriously?”

There on his screen was the tracking app that they’d installed on both of their phones back when they were in Teiko, because of Ryouta’s fear of the dark. Despite having Aomine walk him home after evening practices, Kise had still insisted on the dangers of the night, and to appease him Aomine installed the tracking app on both of their phones so that they could always be aware of each other’s whereabouts. He didn’t even realise and couldn’t believe that it was still working until now.

“Seriously.” Kise nodded, a ghost of a smile appearing on his face at his own feelings of nostalgia.

But Aomine still had so many questions about this increasingly awkward and confusing situation.

“Okay, but what are _they_ all doing here?” Aomine questioned, pointedly staring at the rest of his ex-teammates who, he noted, hadn’t changed much from the last time he’d seen them all. How on earth Kise had managed to get them all in the same place without them killing one another was a miracle in itself; after all they were still rivals who despised one another. But getting them to even follow along with his dumb plan was a whole other phenomenon.

“Well, it’s not like I could’ve kidnapped you on my own! I didn’t really have a lot of options for muscly friends and I needed a getaway driver…… so I asked Kurokocchi to ask them to help me.”

“More like I reached out to them while Kise begged and whined like a baby,” Kuroko added unhelpfully from the side, earning a sour look from Kise.

“I don’t care about you or Kise. I only did this because Kuroko asked, and Oha Asa said that Cancers would have good fortune if they helped someone today,” Midorima said bluntly, his fingers tightening around the wooden clock which Aomine guessed was his lucky item of the day.

Murasakibara seemed to tune in to the conversation then. “Kise-chin promised me snacks if I helped,” he announced through a mouthful of strawberry pocky, and Midorima seemed to be on the verge of a heart attack as bits of the biscuit flew out of his mouth as he spoke.

And then Akashi turned around in his seat, his eyes glowing tempestuously at his former teammates. “Ryouta’s scheme was so ridiculously stupid that I needed to see it for myself. Besides, ‘excellency-in-all-areas' applies to kidnapping too. How wonderful to have us all back together, hm?”

“Yes, _wonderful_ ,” Midorima said sarcastically, eyeing the rest of his company in distaste before attempting to shift as far away from Murasakibara as possible.

Aomine turned his gaze to Kuroko, the only one who he was willing to look at right now. “And I assume the _baka_ asked for your help because you’re the only one we can all stand?”

“Pretty much.”

“I see.” Aomine took a careful look at the Generation of Miracles, all refusing to look at one another, consumed by their rivalry and unresolved hostility. It was clear that they’d all rather be anywhere other than here at the moment, but Aomine secretly admired the fact that Kise had somehow managed to pull it off.

And something niggled at the back of Aomine’s mind - the fact that he _knew_ without a doubt that even with Kise’s or Kuroko’s incessant pleading or incentives, the Generation of Miracles still could’ve and would’ve refused. Instead they were all here, together, and maybe……

Maybe there was still hope for the six of them after all.

He decided to interrupt the long uncomfortable silence between them when he realised that he still had no clue as to what was going to happen now, with his position on the floor half-obscuring his vision through the tinted windows above him. He had no idea where they even were now, with his only view being the tops of the trees and buildings whizzing by.

“Ryouta, I’m still pissed as fuck. But where are we even going?” Aomine asked the blonde, whose eyes lit up at his question.

“It’s a surprise! I totally planned out our first date!” he responded with an excited grin, and there was a dignified snort from the front seat where Akashi turned around to face them and raised a brow at the couple.

“I still can’t believe that the both of you are soulmates,” Akashi remarked, with a false sense of friendliness that bordered on mocking. “You two are the most opposite people there are.”

“Don’t mind Aka-chin, maybe he’s just angsty because he hasn’t gotten his necklace yet. He’s the only one who hasn’t found his soulmate,” Murasakibara commented nonchalantly, causing Midorima and Kise to stifle small sniggers at the casual dig.

However, Akashi’s eyes flashed and he drilled a pointed glare into the side of his ex-teammate’s head. “Don’t test me, Atsushi. You’re beginning to annoy me. And if you oppose me… I’ll kill you, no matter who you are.”

“Akashi isn’t exactly wrong though,” Midorima cut in before things could escalate fully, though Murasakibara seemed completely unbothered by his former captain’s threats. Instead, he had polished off his strawberry pocky and lazily reached his arm out to Kise, who promptly placed a new packet of gummy worms into his hand. “Aomine and Kise _are_ probably the most different from each other now, even though they used to be close. A lot has changed. It was a surprise to me too.”

“I mean, we _were_ best friends,” Kise protested, a bit miffed at their comments. Aomine had always meant more to him than others, and he thought that that was fairly obvious to everyone. “It’s not that far off that we could’ve become soulmates.”

“Really? After you guys had that screaming match and fistfight in middle school, before you told Daiki that you hated him and refused to speak to him ever again?” Akashi interjected harshly, and Kise looked ready to murder until Kuroko swiftly intervened.

“I think we can all agree that even back then, Aomine and Kise had a special relationship. And I’ve seen firsthand that they’ve changed a lot since then. It’s really not that shocking to see them together, nor is it a big deal,” he said calmly, hand going to Kise’s shoulder to prevent him from making any rash moves against their condescending former captain. He still noticed the taller boy’s muscles slightly tense under his palm, but felt them slowly relax the more he cooled down.

Aomine, on the other hand, felt anger flare at Akashi’s tone, the only thing registering in his mind the fact that Akashi had insulted him and Kise and all the progress that they had made. It surged through him - a blinding burst of fury at the boy who had hurt _his_ _Kise’s_ feelings unapologetically.

And furthermore, nobody was allowed to insult Kise except for _him_.

But before Aomine could open his mouth to retaliate and defend his boyfriend against him, he was inexplicably drawn to the sharp yet subtle look in Kise’s golden eyes on his right. His bright orbs seemed darker but calmer, and it was a certain look that seemed to pierce through his own navy eyes and say _“No, don’t worry. Please don’t do anything.”_

And even though Aomine found that it would be so, so easy to just go at Akashi and so, so easy to revert back to his old self and let his anger take over, he didn’t. Because he couldn’t - not with Ryouta Kise looking at him like that, like only they were the most important thing in the world, and that everything was going to be okay, and to just _trust_ him.

And the funny thing was, Aomine _did_ trust him, without any doubt at all.

And so he channelled all of his energy and every ounce of his self-control towards not murdering Akashi Seijuro, instead giving a small, barely perceptible nod towards his soulmate in acknowledgement before unclenching his tensed fists and sliding his hand into Kise’s.

_It was okay. Nobody else’s opinion mattered. Well, except maybe Kuroko Tetsuya’s._

But it was them against the world, together, and he wouldn’t let his emotions get the better of him in fear of losing the idiot sitting next to him.

And on the other side of the limo, Midorima, Murasakibara and Akashi were absolutely floored. Because amidst the rising tensions and the obvious jab against him, never in their lives had they expected Aomine Daiki to not lash out in rage but instead, keep his composure and lean on someone else.

 _Was this really Aomine and Kise now?_ they thought. _What happened to the arrogant ace and the flippant airhead? Did them becoming soulmates actually…… change them? And so quickly, too?_

And so following Kuroko’s calm intervention and with the rest of them still in awe of the pair, another silence ensued, but this time the tension seemed to slowly seep away. And for the first time in a long, long while, the Generation of Miracles appeared to be at a peaceful standstill, a kind of truce that could only be formed from new understanding and growth - all because of Aomine and Kise.

It continued for the next ten minutes, until the limo slowly rolled to a stop in front of a rather familiar place. But before Aomine could comment on their surroundings, Kise flashed his signature pearly grin at their company.

“Well, it’s been fun. Thank you for your help in kidnapping Aominecchi, dearest ex-teammates. Always a pleasure to have us all together, but this is our stop.”

“Don’t forget the rest of my snacks,” Murasakibara chimed, pointing a finger at Kise.

“They’ll be mailed to you as agreed, Murasakibaracchi,” he promised, and the purple-haired boy grinned lazily in satisfaction.

“See you all at the Winter Cup, then,” Akashi declared, a dangerous edge to his tone, dual-coloured eyes glinting challengingly at the rest of them. “I will destroy each and every one of you. I always win."

But Kise saw the way everyone’s eyes hardened with determination at the provocation, particularly Kuroko’s, and he felt his lips transform into a smirk of his own.

“We’ll see, Akashicchi,” he replied airily, before yanking on Aomine’s hand and hopping out of the limo with his soulmate in tow. The sleek vehicle glided away after the door slammed shut, and Aomine turned to see Kise looking at him with shining eyes, any traces of competitiveness now gone and replaced with pure excitement.

“Just us now,” Kise winked, using their still linked hands to pull him along. But Aomine didn’t need to be led, because he already knew exactly where they were going.

The neighbourhood was still the same as the last time he’d visited almost two years ago, and walking down this street brought back a fresh wave of nostalgia. And Aomine could see it before they even reached - the carefully and beautifully laid picnic in the centre of the weathered down basketball court, which Aomine had grown up playing street basketball in.

And the same court that he and Kise used to frequent on the nights that they got kicked out of the school for staying too late playing their one-on-ones, and the one which he had brought Kise to to practice together on the weekends in the past.

Ryouta Kise really had thought of everything.

By the time they reached the set-up, Aomine was already feeling incredibly impressed and touched, and frankly so relieved that Kise hadn’t given up on them that all of his previous anger from getting kidnapped earlier melted away. The soft checkered blanket was surrounded by candles that glowed and flickered in the gentle breeze, and he spied his and Kise’s favourite dishes spread neatly amongst a combination of roses and baby’s breath flowers that decorated the mat.

Aomine felt his heart lodge in his throat, and he couldn’t seem to find an explanation for how he was suddenly speechless at the gesture, his chest blooming with a certain warmth. When was the last time someone had done something so amazing for him?

Kise didn’t seem to be bothered by his silence and instead faced him eagerly. “Do you like it?” he asked hopefully, his bright smile plastered across his face. Aomine dragged his eyes away from the picnic to the boy standing next to him, the latter’s golden eyes wide with expectation and excitement, and suddenly he felt like all the air was knocked out of his lungs.

 _Was this what feelings were?_ Aomine wondered. _The wonder that you feel when someone just completely blows your mind with their actions and thought? The warmth that they somehow give you every time they’re near? And the urge to just keep them smiling, no matter what?_

However, Aomine didn’t let the revelation in his head show on the outside - instead in a moment of complete bravery, he moved his hand from Kise’s one to his waist, and drew his boyfriend in closer before burying his head into the crook of his neck.

“I do. Thank you.”

And Kise felt his heart soar at the sudden affection and his words, and he couldn’t stop the blush that crept onto his neck and face as he savoured the warmth of Aomine’s body so close to his. But all too soon Aomine pulled away, and they made their way to the blanket where they ate and talked and laughed until the sun began to set.

Kise had forced him to try his favourite onion gratin soup, which Aomine almost choked on while attempting to spit it out, and in retaliation he had conveniently remembered all of Kise’s ticklish spots and proceeded to torture him for a good fifteen minutes, their stomachs aching by the time they’d finished laughing with tears in their eyes.

And to them it felt like they were in their own private bubble - completely blind to the strange stares that they had gotten from passers-by as time passed, not at all caring about how peculiar it must have been to have seen two teenagers having a romantic picnic in the middle of a random worn down basketball court.

And after their shenanigans they found themselves lying down on the blanket side by side, watching the sky turn into a sea of oranges and yellows and pinks all coming together in one brilliant, magnificent shade. But then their tranquil silence was broken by Aomine’s deep voice.

“I’m sorry.”

To say that Kise was surprised was an understatement, and he shifted such that his head was turned sideways and he could see his soulmate’s face.

“For what?” he questioned, slightly confused at the apology, and Aomine mirrored his earlier actions so that he could face Kise as well, dark blue eyes boring into his golden ones.

“For not taking you out on a date,” he sighed, and he watched Kise’s face soften at his words. “And for refusing to change anything between us, even though we’re supposed to be dating now. I should’ve tried more, instead you literally had to force me to do this with you.”

“It’s fine, Aominecchi. You’re here now, aren’t you?” Kise teased gently, but Aomine still had a hint of sadness in his eyes that seemed to convey his regret.

“You deserve better. I’m sorry.”

Because now, Aomine _was_ regretting it. He regretted the way that he had taken Kise for granted, regretted the two days that he could’ve spent with him if he had just apologised or gone along with his wants, regretted letting his confusing feelings and emotions get in the way of their happiness.

But now, everything was clear. So, so clear.

And as he looked at his soulmate’s face, eyes gazing over every line and curve of his annoyingly perfect features, his remorse placated by Kise’s forgiveness and patience, and his heart filled with a certain intensity and warmth that only this boy could bring him, he realised one very crucial fact -

which was that he was genuinely, slowly but surely, falling in love with Ryouta Kise.

And his heart almost burst out of his chest when Kise gently cupped his face and leaned closer, eyes level with his own as he whispered, “You’re more than enough for me, Aominecchi.”

Instinctively, Aomine tilted his head forward even more, until Kise’s face was so close that he could count the lashes along his eyelids and feel his breath across his face. And Kise was suddenly hyper aware of Aomine’s face so near to his own, his tanned skin soft under his hands, his nose gently brushing against his.

And he was a second away from closing the distance and finally, _finally_ pressing his lips against Aomine’s - but suddenly Kise was struck by a sense of fear and the horrifying thought that _“what if he’s just doing this because he thinks he has to?”_

His mind raced back to all of their interactions leading up to this very moment, all the times that Aomine had rolled his eyes at his whines for them to be a couple, that he had blatantly refused to do romantic couple things with him, that he acted as if Kise were holding a gun to his head whenever they spent any time together.

Maybe Aomine never wanted to be his soulmate. Maybe even now, Aomine was only doing this because he felt obligated to, and he never had and never would have feelings for him.

 _No. He couldn’t do this_.

And with that final thought, Kise abruptly jerked his head away, so suddenly and unlike him that Aomine startled and felt a mix of confusion and hurt pierce straight through his heart at the rejection. _Did Kise not want to kiss him? Did he not feel the same way?_

However, instead of answers, Kise only stumbled to his feet, almost tripping on the blanket before stammering out a panicked, “I-I guess I’ll see you soon.”

And he didn’t say another word before quickly turning on his heel and sprinting away from the basketball court, leaving Aomine crushed and alone at the site of their first date, the glowing sunset now already replaced by darkness, each fading footstep a resounding echo that seemed to increase the distance between them once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> long chapter for you all as an apology for not updating in over a week 💔 tldr i have my job now so until i figure out a schedule to properly assign time to all my commitments i might not be uploading as frequently. but once i do i promise more chapters!! anyway i’ve been STRESSED so i’m stressing you guys out with this ending :)


	10. Don't You Know?

Aomine Daiki was positive that Ryouta Kise was avoiding him.

At first, he didn’t seem to pick up on Kise’s behaviour. By the time he finished cleaning up their picnic at the basketball court, he figured that Kise just had a flash of nerves at their proximity, and they would be totally fine the next day.

But his senses began tingling when Kise didn’t reply his messages or send him a goodnight text that night, and so the next day he had plucked up the courage to go to Kise’s house to try and catch him there. But instead he was met with one of Kise’s older sisters at the door, who informed him that his boyfriend in question wasn’t at home.

Whether or not Kise had told her to lie or if he really wasn’t at home, Aomine didn’t know.

Now two days later, Aomine lay on his bed, arm slung over his eyes as his temple throbbed in frustration. Was this karma for the time when he had been an ass?

But more than anything, he was becoming more worried the longer that he didn’t see his soulmate. Did he do something wrong? Or were they moving too fast?

No, that wasn’t possible. Kise had always been the one to initiate things, was the one who begged for them to be official. And given his bubbly and emotional personality, Aomine was willing to bet his life’s savings that Kise had caught feelings for him first. Besides, they were soulmates. There was no way that either one of them could’ve _not_ caught feelings.

So what was it, then? They’d already resolved any problems between them, so it couldn’t be that he was angry at him. In fact, things were going well. So well, actually, that Aomine had spent the past two days reliving their date in his mind.

Or more specifically, daydreaming about the moment when his face was inches away from Kise’s, and how it was as if all the stars and moons and planets had aligned in that very moment.

It was strange; he’d never felt this way before. Sure, he and Kise had good times back in the day, and his childhood had been filled with pleasant memories that made him feel warm inside. But this new feeling overtook his entire body and his mind - it was a giddiness that seemed to put colour into the world around him and make his life seem brighter than ever.

And it was all because of Ryouta Kise.

Aomine accepted his feelings now. It confused him at the start - but now he couldn’t deny the little flutters in his stomach whenever Kise called him “Aominecchi”, or the anxiousness he felt whenever he thought of Kise getting hurt, or how being in his presence made him unconsciously smile from ear to ear.

God, he was already becoming a sap.

He rolled his eyes at himself before feeling his anxiousness kick in again, and with a groan he picked up his phone and stared at the illuminated screen. He’d changed his homescreen to a picture of him and Kise when they were younger, but refused to set it as his lockscreen for fear of others seeing it.

But the longer he stared at them together, the more determined he became to set things back in place.

-

Ryouta Kise was not having a good day.

Actually, he hadn’t exactly been having the time of his life the past two days either.

 _It’s all because of stupid Aominecchi_ , he thought crossly.

Ever since that night, it was as if a storm cloud had gathered above him and followed him everywhere he went, and his heart and mind felt heavy. Things between him and Aomine were out of balance, and consequently it disrupted the equilibrium of his life.

And it was something that didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of his teammates.

For the last two trainings, the cheerful ace seemed to be weighed down by something, and it showed in his performance. No longer were there airy remarks or quick actions from the blonde; instead there was only silence and half-hearted throws alongside the glum look on his face.

But while his team members were sympathetic to his mood, Yukio Kasamatsu was having none of it this practice.

“What’s wrong with you?” Kasamatsu asked, throwing the basketball to Kise who absentmindedly caught it with both hands. He stared blankly at it for a few moments before turning his gaze to his captain.

“Nothing, just boyfriend problems,” he murmured, bouncing the ball against the ground in front of him distractedly.

Kasamatsu looked at him questioningly. “Didn’t you guys get together, like, a week ago or something? How the hell do you two already have problems?”

“It’s not like that!” Kise defended. “I mean, we’re not fighting or anything.”

“Then what? Talk to me, Ryouta. I can’t have you so distracted and half-assing everything. We still have the Winter Cup.”

Kise gave a heavy sigh, catching the ball mid-air and temporarily holding onto it. “It’s just...... everything was going great. But then I thought that what if Aominecchi’s just doing this because he thinks he has to? He’s never explicitly told me that he has feelings for me, and maybe he’s only sticking around because the necklace told him to. So I’ve been avoiding him- which I know, I know, is awful- but I just don’t know what to say to him.”

At that explanation, Kasamatsu felt his blood pressure rise and he resisted the urge to face palm. God, this boy was such an idiot. Actually, the both of them were.

And he let Kise know that with a hard smack to the head.

“Ow! What was that for, senpai?” Kise yelped, attracting the attention of a few other teammates. However, they were already used to the pair’s very physical dynamic.

“You’re a fucking idiot, you know?” Kasamatsu scoffed. “Does he really look like the type to stay just because someone told him to? The guy makes his own rules, and I can tell you that he’d only be around if he wanted to. Also, ‘never explicitly told you that he has feelings for you’ my ass. Did _you_ ever explicitly tell him your feelings for him either? And you’re even more dense than I thought if you can’t tell that the guy is mad crushing on you just from the way that he asked you to date him.”

“Yo, harsh, Kasamatsu,” someone from the team called out, earning a few snickers and a glare from Kise.

But the blonde wasn’t so easily convinced, instead continuing to pout, and the tired captain sighed.

“Look, just figure it out soon, alright? You know we’ve always got your back, but you two need to have a serious conversation about where you stand. Because it sounds to me like the both of you are constantly on a different page from each other, and you keep having dumb misunderstandings.”

Training resumed and Kise continued to brush it aside, but despite his skepticism towards his senior’s opinion, Kasamatsu’s words continued to ring inside Kise’s head for the remainder of practice, and he found himself barely scraping by with his distracted mind. All too soon, practice had come to an end, and Kise felt just as unsatisfied as ever.

However, he was broken out of his stupor when he felt a hard nudge at his side while they were keeping away the equipment, and he turned to see one of his teammates looking pointedly at the door of the gym.

“Look’s like you’ve got a visitor,” he whistled, and Kise looked up to see none other than his boyfriend leaning against the doorframe, the sun outlining his large build and illuminating his distinct blue hair.

Kise felt his heart skip a beat when he caught sight of him, and Aomine’s dark eyes met his golden ones from across the hall. And then Aomine started walking towards him with long strides, and Kise felt a flash of panic rush through him.

“Aominecchi, what are you doing here? You can’t just walk in!” he said frantically, meeting him halfway to try and push him out the door he just came through.

“I don’t care.” The blue haired boy rolled his eyes, pointedly ignoring Kise’s gawking teammates before latching onto his boyfriend’s arm tightly. “We have to talk.”

Kise didn’t even have a chance to protest before he was forcefully dragged outside, leaving his team to murmur about the sudden appearance of their rival school’s brooding ace.

Thankfully, the benches which Aomine pulled them towards were empty with no one else in sight, and Kise took the opportunity to muster a glare and yank his arm from Aomine’s grasp. He turned to Aomine, who casually leaned against a nearby tree, arms folded across his chest as he stared back at him.

Kise cursed himself for the few seconds that he admired Aomine’s strong profile, before remembering what he wanted to say.

“You can’t just manhandle me like that in front of everyone,” Kise complained, his features sharpening into a cross and unhappy look. “You’re the enemy!”

“Why are you avoiding me?” Aomine countered bluntly, and the blonde’s stern expression suddenly morphed into one of surprise.

_So he did notice. Huh._

“I-I’m not,” Kise stuttered, but even he knew that his denial was weak.

“Ryouta, you haven’t been replying my texts and I even went to your house. We haven’t spoken in days. What’s going on?”

“There’s really nothing wrong,” Kise insisted, just wanting all of this to go away. He felt claustrophobic at the thought of Aomine so physically near yet so far, only here to appease him instead of actually wanting him. Meanwhile Kise was standing here almost bursting at the seams with his feelings, barely able to hold them in.

“Bullshit,” Aomine scoffed, eyes narrowed in distrust. “Things were good between us but then you suddenly ran away, and now you’ve clearly been ignoring me.”

“Have not!”

“Have too!”

“I really haven’t! Why don’t you believe me, Aominecchi?”

There was a long pause, the two facing each other with their minds worked up and indignant looks in their eyes. And then -

“…… Did I do something wrong?” Aomine suddenly asked softly, looking at his boyfriend with resigned, defeated eyes, and Kise instantly felt his heart crack at the small tone of his voice.

If there was anything in the world that Ryouta Kise couldn’t handle, it was seeing Aomine Daiki - the one person on earth he had always had the most affection for - sad and hurting. And now that Kise was the one causing it, he could feel a sting in his eyes and his heart breaking into a million little pieces at the sight.

But he couldn’t afford to back down from this, because he couldn’t let his heart get trampled by Aomine’s unbothered feelings once again.

For a while, the two of them just stood there at a standstill, unsure of how to carefully proceed from here. Kise felt a lump in his throat constricting him and robbing him of speech, and Aomine was becoming incredibly uneasy at the lack of response.

But then Kise looked towards the ground, fists clenched and gaze averted, before mumbling out a soft, “No.”

Aomine breathed out heavily. “Then why?”

“I-I can’t-“

“Why?”

“Aominecchi-“

“Just tell me why, baka!”

“Fine!” Kise finally burst out, unable to hold it in any longer. “I can’t be in a relationship with you if you don’t reciprocate my feelings at all, okay?”

The weight of Kise’s words completely stunned the navy-haired boy, and he felt the earth shift beneath his feet as he stumbled backwards a bit at the unexpected response.

“ _What?_ ”

“I said, if you don’t have any real feelings for me, just walk away right now,” Kise bit out, his stomach continuing to churn even though Aomine seemed genuinely appalled at his statement. “If you’re only doing this with me - all the hanging out and walking home and the dates - just because of the necklace and you think that you have to, I’d rather we just call it quits right now.”

Aomine struggled to process his boyfriend’s words, at the fact that _this_ was the reason why Kise was avoiding him completely. However, seeing the blonde’s wounded expression, Aomine realised that he was entirely serious, and he needed to act now.

“What the hell? That’s what this is all about?” Aomine asked in astonishment. “You really think that way?”

“Of course I do!” Kise shot back. “You never seem to want to hang out with me, and you’ve always got that bored or pained look on your face whenever I ask you to do something. You’ve never bothered to spend time with someone other than Momocchi - and that’s only because you’re childhood friends - and now you’re suddenly okay with being with me? What am I supposed to think?”

“I don’t know, that maybe it’s possible for me to catch feelings for you too?” Aomine said exasperatedly, his calloused hands coming up to tug at his hair roughly in frustration.

But Kise merely gave a huff, crossing his arms across his chest and staring back at Aomine. “I don’t believe you.”

“Seriously?” Aomine’s eyes widened in disbelief. This brat was going to be the death of him.

But then his brain started to replay all of their moments together since they found out that they were soulmates that fateful match, and he started to see things from Kise’s point of view.

Back then, he was a grumpy, angry boy who only operated by himself, and he recalled all the times he’d grudgingly agreed to let Kise take him out. Sure, he’d been the one to do the whole boyfriend proposal, but even then he wasn’t even sure of his feelings. So how could he expect Kise to think otherwise?

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Maybe he shouldn’t be giving Kise such a hard time. God knows he would’ve thought the exact same thing if he was in his position.

Aomine closed his eyes and let out a brief sigh, collecting his thoughts. The way he played it now would determine the course of their future together. And now, more than ever, he was certain that what he felt for Kise was real.

Kise still hadn’t said a word, instead he just glanced around uncomfortably, his heart silently breaking the longer the minutes ticked by. But after a while, he noticed the way Aomine’s features began to soften, and his shocked face had started to be replaced by a deeper, more serious look.

“Ryouta,” Aomine began. “I’m sorry.”

At those words, Kise’s heart seemed to shatter even more, and the emotionally-charged boy immediately braced himself for rejection, interpreting his apology as a prelude to them breaking up. However, seeing Kise’s hurt face, Aomine instantly realised his mistake and scrambled to correct himself.

“Wait, no! I mean, I’m not saying yes to walking away! Like-I…… God, this is hard,” Aomine struggled, once again reaching up to grasp his hair in frustration.

However, the ache in Kise’s heart seemed to slowly dissipate when he noted the equally exasperated Aomine who didn’t actually completely reject him. Maybe they had a shot.

“Look, I don’t know how to do this properly. But I’m going to say this once and for all, okay? I _do_ have feelings for you, and they’re real. I know it’s hard to believe, because just a while ago I didn’t believe it myself either, but I’m not here because of the stupid necklace. I’m here because I actually like being with you. I don’t know what else I can do to convince you,” Aomine declared, gaze turned toward him in a silent plea.

And this time, Ryouta Kise believed him. Because seeing Aomine come to him, laying his emotions out in the open with a genuine look in his eyes was more than Kise would ever expect. If Aomine really didn’t care, he would’ve left a long time ago.

 _Just like what senpai said_ , Kise thought. _Aominecchi plays by his own rules. And he’s still here fighting to convince me_.

And what else did Kasamatsu say? Oh, right - _“Did you ever explicitly tell him your feelings for him either?”_

Kise shifted in his spot. “So the whole boyfriend thing at my school…… that was real?”

Aomine felt his tense shoulders relax slightly at the fact that Kise hadn’t turned away from him yet, but he still let out a sigh. “If we’re going to be honest here, I’m going to admit that I wasn’t a 100% sure of my feelings back then. But things changed, Ryouta. Now I’m really sure.”

He continued to feel Kise’s eyes on him, but then he caught sight of the blonde’s lips twitching and slowly transforming into a teasing smirk.

“So…… when exactly did you realise, hm?”

“Are we really going to do this?” Aomine groaned, crossing his arms and hanging his head. Kise, however, nodded enthusiastically, and the navy-haired boy felt like he needed to comply, if only to finally have things between him and the idiot be okay.

“Fine, I guess I knew it when you kidnapped me,” Aomine grumbled out unwillingly, face transforming into a scowl. “Not during the actual kidnapping - because I’m still fucking pissed about that - but when we were having our date. Just before we were about to…… you know……. kiss.” His voice trailed off towards the end of his sentence until the last bit could barely be heard, but Kise knew what he meant.

The blonde blushed at the memory of their almost-kiss, and he inwardly cringed at the realisation that he was actually the one who had screwed things up between them.

_“Did you ever explicitly tell him your feelings for him either?”_

“Aominecchi,” Kise started, “I’m sorry too.”

Aomine’s head snapped up. “For what?”

“I realised that I’ve never actually told you either.” Kise let out a breath. “I like you too. Like, really, really do. Even if you’re moody and mean and don’t want to do things with me - _especially_ then - because it’s just who you are.”

_“You don’t know that, Dai-chan. I really think that this could be a chance for you to finally be happy!”_

Despite the thoughts in his head telling his heart to calm the fuck down, he could feel it beating at an increasingly rapid pace after hearing what Kise had just said.

Ryouta Kise liked him. He liked him back. They were boyfriends. Why were they making things so complicated?

In a few long strides, Aomine crossed the few metres that separated them until he was standing in front of Kise, though not touching him yet.

“So…… can we be okay?” Aomine asked quietly, deciding to look at Kise’s face and into his golden eyes. He’d always loved how bright they were, and he wanted them to be shining with happiness now instead of being filled with uncertainty and worry.

“Of course we can,” Kise murmured, getting a little breathless at their proximity again. “Thank you for your apology, and I hope you’ll accept mine. I’m sorry that I avoided you too. But now that we’re both clear on where we stand, we can be a normal couple right?”

“We’re definitely anything but normal,” Aomine snorted, running a hand through his hair nervously. “But you’re right that I do always act like I don’t want to be around you. I actually really do want to spend time with you, and I’m sorry that it wasn’t apparent. I’ll try harder. Let’s just be okay now, yeah? No more bullshit, deal?”

Kise felt himself smile at that, and he reached a hand up to gently brush Aomine’s hair behind his ear. And this time, Aomine didn’t seem to flinch away at his initiated contact, instead giving his own crooked smile in return.

“We’re kind of dumbasses, aren’t we?” Kise chuckled, hand travelling to cup Aomine’s cheek. Even though it had only been two days, he’d missed having his boyfriend near, and he relished in how content and at peace he felt as he brushed the pad of his thumb over his tanned cheek.

Aomine scowled playfully. “Mostly your fault, you brat.”

“Was not!”

“Kind of was.”

“We really can’t stop arguing for one minute, huh?” Kise laughed. Some might’ve been irritated by countless fights with their partners, but to Aomine and Kise, it was as if everything was perfect in the world again.

Aomine crooked a smile. “Guess we can’t. Pains me to say this, but we’re both equally at fault, deal?”

“Deal.” Kise smiled. “I can’t believe I got _the_ Aomine Daiki to apologise to me.”

The navy haired boy glowered at him almost instantly. “Shut up. And don’t you dare tell anyone.”

“Can’t have you losing your bad boy rep, huh?” Kise teased, smile widening and eyes disappearing as a result of his grin, perfect teeth on full display.

And Aomine felt his breath taken away at that very moment. Because seeing Ryouta Kise smiling and radiant and _happy_ right now - it was something that he never thought would make _him_ so happy. And suddenly he was filled with the intense urge to keep him like this, no matter what.

And staring down at his beaming face, Aomine thought, _is this what falling for someone means? Caring about someone so passionately and wanting the best for them, at any cost? Is this really my life now?_

But he was snapped out of his thoughts by Kise, who suddenly brought his other hand up to cup his cheek, so that now his face was encased by the blonde’s warm hands.

“Hey, Aominecchi?” he asked quietly, golden eyes looking away for a moment before staring back up at him. “Don’t kill me, but…… do you want to try that kiss again? Please?”

And Aomine Daiki had absolutely no idea how to respond to that. Except for the feeling in his body and mind telling him that he wanted it, to go for it, to do it because it was finally time, even with his heart beating a million miles a second.

And so instead of answering, Aomine grabbed his shoulders, closed his eyes and leaned down, and without any hesitation or reservations, pressed his lips against Kise’s.

It was strange at first, kissing a boy for the first time on both their parts. It wasn’t all that different from their previous encounters, but this time, it seemed…… better. _Right_. As if the world had finally stopped spinning just in anticipation for this very moment.

And Kise noticed the softness of Aomine’s lips, in contrast to the rough skin under his hands right now. The warmth of it, and how it slowly spread to the rest of his body and engulfed him in a certain tenderness that only the boy in front of him could bring.

And Aomine couldn’t help but be aware of how different this kiss made him feel. It wasn’t the same as all of his previous, rather meaningless kisses with different girls. Instead, he couldn’t help but melt into it, Kise emanating a warmth that immersed him in a sense of familiarity and comfort.

But there was also a slight trace of fear in it - a fear that because this was all so recent and new and different, that he wouldn’t be able to do this properly, make Kise happy.

However, as they finally broke apart, foreheads resting against each other as they each caught their breath, Kise could sense it too.

And so Ryouta Kise simply smiled, looking up at his new world with all the adoration and care in the world, and whispered to him:

“Don’t worry, Aominecchi. We’ll figure this out, step by step. Together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a kind of haphazardly thrown together chapter... severe writers block for this sigh... and again forgive me for the long wait time, i actually got a second job so life's been crazy busy. as always, hope you enjoy & stay safe! and of course, any comments or suggestions appreciated x


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